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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27663856">On the Ship's Log: A Collection of One Piece Mermaid AU Stories</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/yukipri/pseuds/yukipri'>yukipri</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>On Strangest Tides: A One Piece Mermaid AU [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Piece</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Endgame Polyamory, F/F, F/M, Female Monkey D. Luffy, Gen, Genderbending, Mermaid Luffy, Multi, Yami Yami Thatch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:31:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>26,716</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27663856</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/yukipri/pseuds/yukipri</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Luffy is a rubber mermaid who can't swim, she and Ace are co-captains on the same crew, and everything else ripples outwards from there.</p><p>A compilation of non-chronological shorter fics in this AU.</p><p>Posted as the "One Piece Mermaid AU" on Tumblr.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eustass Kid/Monkey D. Luffy, Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Monkey D. Luffy, Koala/Monkey D. Luffy, Masked Deuce/Monkey D. Luffy, Monkey D. Luffy &amp; Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy &amp; Portgas D. Ace &amp; Sabo, Monkey D. Luffy &amp; Sabo, Monkey D. Luffy/Everyone, Monkey D. Luffy/Nami, Monkey D. Luffy/Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy/Portgas D. Ace/Sabo, Monkey D. Luffy/Roronoa Zoro, Monkey D. Luffy/Sabo, Monkey D. Luffy/Smoker, Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law, Monkey D. Luffy/Vinsmoke Sanji, Thatch (One Piece)/Monkey D. Luffy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>On Strangest Tides: A One Piece Mermaid AU [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2021656</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>122</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>420</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. On Coby and the Beginning of the Journey</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey all!</p><p>This is the work where I'll be compiling my shorter "fics" for this AU! "Fics," because while some of these were written as fics/ficlets, others are revamped versions of my responses to asks on Tumblr.</p><p>Note, some of these fics may be multi-part, and will be labeled as such if that's the case.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This was prompted by an ask from Happynapper69 on Tumblr, who asked, "how does luffy meet coby? Is she alone when she meets coby like in canon or is there an ace there as well?"</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Somewhere in East Blue, a short distance aways from Dawn Island, a barrel is picked up by a cruise ship. The cruise ship is attacked by pirates, and the barrel found--and that's how one Monkey D. Luffy meets Coby.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>But while Luffy and Coby are having their fateful meeting, somewhere in the same East Blue a little ways away, Portgas D. Ace is <em>flipping his shit.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>Because, <em>apparently</em>, mere <em>hours</em> after they started their grand adventure, setting sail from Dawn Island on the journey of their lives--they have <em>already lost Luffy</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>While the ASL Pirates have only just been formed, their members (other than Luffy), are <em>not</em> amateurs. They have Ace, who’s capable enough that the government wanted to recruit him as a Warlord, his first mate when said recruitment happened, and a freakin’ <em>Whitebeard Pirate Commander</em>. And yet, they <em>still have</em> managed to lose her?!</p>
</div><div>
  <p>What do you <em>mean</em> she fell asleep in a <em>barrel</em> while Ace took his eyes off of her for <em>one second</em> to discuss their course with Deuce and Thatch??? What do you <em>mean</em> the <em>barrel fell overboard</em>??? What do you mean,<em> the barrel got SUCKED INTO A WHIRLPOOL?!?!?!?!?</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>This does not bode well for their future adventures.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>So back on their lil fishing boat, three of the most over powered pirates in East Blue are freaking out and doing a lot of shouting, but well. Luffy doesn’t know and doesn’t care bc she’s experiencing her first Adventure, and she just met a funny lil weak kid with pink hair! How exciting!</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Coby, on his end, was already shocked enough when a gangly teen toppled out of a barrel and stretched inhumanly and beat the crap out of the pirate he’d been forced to work for. The fact that she’s a girl, and a freakin’ <em>mermaid </em>(those exist???)…Well, Coby’s already way over his shock capacity threshold, so it doesn’t end up making all that much of a difference.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>When Luffy casually suggests that they should find an island, because her crew will be looking for her and oh yeah <em>she can’t swim</em>…well, Coby just nods, still kinda numb to everything. Because sure. His new mermaid friend can’t swim. Alright then.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They go to Shells Town and Luffy’s excited because well, she’s here anyway, she wants to see if she can recruit that Zoro dude before Ace finds her. He won’t be too mad if she’s Accomplished Something Piratey like recruit a cool new crew member while she was gone, right?!</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(Ace and the others do find them, right as they’re being shooed out of Shells Town. Zoro, Coby, and all the marines lined up to salute them gape, because while no, no one’s heard of Luffy, <em>they sure as hell have heard of THOSE</em> <em>pirates, </em>and Luffy conveniently failed to mention how infamous “Nii-chan,” “Mask Guy,” and “Bread Guy” are<em>. </em>Zoro belatedly wonders what he signed up for)</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. On Shanks finding out that Luffy's a girl from Mihawk</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The last time Shanks saw Luffy, she was a 7 year old mer brat. She's changed some since then.</p>
<p>This was prompted by an ask from an Anon on Tumblr.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After defeating Zoro outside the Baratie, Mihawk immediately goes to find Shanks, still quietly thrumming with excitement from having found such promising young potential in East Blue, but also sorta invisibly vibrating because <em>he knows something Shanks will go batshit for</em>.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>Contrary to expectations, Mihawk has an excellent sense of humor and loves having a good laugh. He just never does it outwardly, his expression never changing, so people naturally don’t know he’s laughing. But he doesn’t remember the last time he had anything this <em>huge</em> over the Emperor who is his rival/friend, and he definitely doesn’t want to waste it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>So when Mihawk pulls up and shows Shanks Luffy’s bounty poster, one that conveniently just shows her from the neck up, he bides his time.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>As expected, as soon as Shanks recognizes the face and the hat, he <em>lights up</em> and demands a party, which is of course an excuse for him to begin recounting his Luffy Tales that Mihawk and everyone on the crew has heard a million times before and more. But this time, this is exactly what Mihawk wants, so he tolerates tankard upon tankard of rum shoved in his face.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"And then this brat, this lil shrimp-looking mer brat who sucked at swimming despite being, ya know, a MER BRAT, he opened the chest when I wasn’t looking and ate the devil fruit! I bet he ate it whole! He sealed his own fate as a land-bound merman for the rest of his life!!! Have you ever heard of anything so <em>stupid?!</em>”</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Shanks is the kind of drunk who can get wild and hysterical and happy and show every kind of drunken symptom, and yet remember in crystal detail everything that’s said to him while he’s intoxicated. So Mihawk knows Shanks will remember this. He takes a deep, luxurious swig of nasty rum, savoring the dramatic pause before he drops the bomb–</p>
</div><div>
  <p>“Straw Hat may indeed never enjoy the sea like her brethren, but she appeared to be a remarkably well adjusted <em>mermaid</em>.”</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>YES!!!! </em>Shanks hoots and his crew join in, and Mihawk waits for his words to process. He notices Beckman sitting a short distance away, and the feral smirk slowly curling around the man’s cigar, one that screams <em>I was waiting for this</em>. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Mihawk meets his eyes, and he thinks <em>Ah, so Shanks’s own right hand man knew and never told him</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Mihawk watches as Shanks stops shouting and his arm freezes then slowly lowers, not even noticing all the alcohol streaming out of the now tilted tankard. He notices the man’s eyes widening, then bulging, suddenly frighteningly sober as he finishes processing Mihawk’s last sentence.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>“Mer…<em>MAID?</em>”</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Only some truly impressive observation Haki saves Yasopp from being drenched in the unholy amount of rum spewed from his captain’s mouth. Mihawk was already well out of the danger zone, but politely dabs a fancy gothic handkerchief at nonexistent specks of alcohol, pretending he isn’t relishing this.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>“I could be mistaken, but she didn’t seem to object to being called a Lady, and her form was...distinctive.”</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There’s a pregnant pause, and then–</p>
</div><div>
  <p>“Dracule Mihawk, are you telling me you stared at <em>my Luffy's TITS</em>–!!!”</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Benn Beckman gives Mihawk an apologetic nod, left in the dust as his Captain had already departed in a stumbling rush to get back to the Red Force, screaming something along the lines of, “<em>Portgas called Luffy his 'Little Brother,' that lil SHITHEAD!!!</em>” leaving his commanders to kick the rest of their confused drunk crew back on board.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Because apparently, Shanks can’t believe that the kid he’s literally talked about nonstop to most of the major powers in the world is actually <em>not a merman at all</em>, and now he’s insistent that he go see for himself, and if they leave now they might be able to catch the ASL Pirates at Logue Town…</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Beckman doesn’t think it’s a good idea, but he’s also sure that whatever’s bound to happen, it’ll be a hoot, so he passes Mihawk his den den number before taking his leave.</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. On whether Sabo realized Luffy was a girl</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Physical differences are hard to recognize when one of you is part fish.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please check the notes at the end of the chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After a particularly vigorous (dirty, muddy, nasty) day in the forests of Mt. Corvo, the three brothers head to Dadan’s to borrow her bathing barrel, a rare privilege but one they sometimes get to enjoy. Luffy always pouts at never being able to be in the barrel alone, but she’ll drown if she’s not supported by someone, so she puts up with it.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>It’s while they’re covered in suds, that Luffy casually asks, completely innocent, <em>What’re those things??</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>“Those things,” meaning the things between Ace and Sabo’s legs. Luffy doesn’t know what they are, and certainly doesn’t have them herself.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You don’t got one?" Ace asks, realizing for the first time that no, he actually hasn’t ever seen Luffy’s dick. Though to be honest, he has no clue what a mer dick would even look like.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sabo also looks contemplative, not really sure how to proceed. "Well, he doesn’t have legs, so nothing can be between them…Maybe mer people don’t have them?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh," Luffy nods, "that makes sense. I don’t have legs, so I can’t have anything between something I don’t have. I have a tail instead!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>This sounds like surprisingly sound logic, and all three brothers accept it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(No, none of the brothers had particularly deep knowledge of fish biology, and it didn’t really occur to them to apply it to their youngest)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Humans have lotsa weird extra things," Luffy adds as an afterthought. "You even have weird little fingers on the ends of your legs!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(This thought bothers Ace more than it should have. <em>Sabo, we have little fingers on our legs!</em>)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(<em>Shut up Ace, go to sleep.</em>)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ten years later, they’ve finally all reunited again, and after all the hugs ‘n tears have settled, Ace drags Sabo to a quiet corner of the ship and puts him in a rather painful Haki-laced headlock.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What’s this for?!" Sabo’s sure he deserves it for forgetting, but this feels oddly like Ace has a specific grudge.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"For making me think that Lu’s a guy for SEVEN YEARS! '<em>He doesn’t have legs, so nothing can be between them</em>,' my <em>ass</em>!"</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>To be clear, Parts in no way determines gender, but the brothers didn’t necessarily have a great sex ed (or really, any education at all), at least back then. After joining the Revolutionary Army, Sabo alone gets an excellent sex &amp; gender education from Ivankov ^v^)b This is defs one of the reasons why it’s so easy for him to accept that Luffy’s both a girl, and his brother.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. On the Baratie, Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sanji never dreamed he'd encounter an actual MERMAID in East Blue...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The "On the Baratie" mini series has 6 parts!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's an ordinary day at the Baratie, with the usual shitty customers, the usual starving travelers, and the usual scarce but lovely ladies. Sanji doesn't expect today to be any different. But then, a miracle happens.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p><em>A mermaid walks in</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji's sure his heart stops, and his brain almost does too. It's his dream to go to Fishman Island one day to frolic with the legendary beautiful mermaids that are said to live there, and it's a dream only second to finding All Blue. A slightly more tangible one too, since Fishman Island actually has a physical location on the world map, but Sanji digresses.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He'd never have imagined finding a mermaid in East Blue, and yet here one is, she's real and <em>she's inside the Baratie</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji doesn't really stop to consider how a mermaid can "walk."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Everything feels muted, and Sanji feels like he's floating on clouds as he makes his way towards the group at the door. He vaguely notes how many are in their party, but the others are a blur; he only has eyes for his angel, his aquatic goddess, his dream given physical form who has come to bless Sanji's mortal soul.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Up close, the mermaid's even lovelier. She has a petite, round face and the largest, warmest brown eyes he's ever seen, flecks of the subtlest golds and reds hidden deep within their depths like sunken treasure. Her hair's choppy and short but still looks indescribably soft, even when mostly hidden by a ratty straw hat. Her red vest's simple and has seen better days, but the goddess could be wearing rags and nothing would dim her loveliness. Ample, luscious, honestly ENORMOUS breasts look a second from bursting forth from their humble constraints, and Sanji wants to be there to catch them, can practically feel them overflowing from his palms already. Her skin's golden from the sun, and her arms could probably rip a man in two, and Sanji wants to be that man. The mermaid's certainly no court lady, but it must be because no court could ever be worthy of her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And her <em>tail</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It's the most eye-catching part about her, shimmering like it's made of the most precious multi-faceted jewels, and everyone in the restaurant has turned to gape. It's thickest at her hips and ripples with strength in a way that reminds Sanji not of any fish, but of sea kings, fearsome and untouchable. It tapers smoothly to a tip with translucent flukes more beautiful than any stained glass, more like lustrous fairy wings made of crystal flower petals, which wave lazily in the air as she moves, proving that yes, the tail is very real, and she is indeed a mermaid.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji often gushes about love for the maidens who visit the Baratie, but he doesn't know if he's ever truly felt it it beyond the surface of his skin. If anyone had asked him if he believed in true love, he would have laughed off the question, but now, he can't.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Because this must be it, this must be "Love at First Sight," because how else can he possibly explain this impossible urge to grasp the mermaiden's hand and present her with his heart and everything he is, to pledge to follow her to the death and beyond, to--</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"'Scuse us," a voice says from WAY TOO CLOSE. "Are there any open seats?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji blinks, and realizes that there's a wall in front of him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A wall of muscle to be exact, that turns out to be a man, a man who's taller than Sanji, shirtless, and very, Very fit...and Sanji and said man are standing so close that the tips of their noses are brushing and Sanji can count the man's freckles. Sanji's gaze flicks up, and the man's eyes are <em>right there</em>, staring lazily down at him from point blank range.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>...Well this is awkward.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji's mermaid is casually wrapped around the man's shoulders, swishing her bejeweled tail and blinking at Sanji curiously. Her breasts are mashed into the back of the man's head, and the man doesn't seem to notice or care as he waits patiently for Sanji's answer.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>As the fog of love clears from his head, Sanji mumbles an apology and takes a big step back to a more socially appropriate distance, and tears his eyes away from the mermaid to assesses the whole group. And although love is so powerful it can override intellect, Sanji's not stupid.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>By the look of it, they're pirates. There's a lovely lady in the back along with a weaker looking kid, but everyone else looks strong and experienced. And as enamored as he is by the concept of mermaids, Sanji can also very easily imagine the limited scenarios in which one might find a mermaid above deck, far away from Fishman island, and in the hands of pirates.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He might not see shackles on her, but physical bindings aren't always necessary for someone to be caged.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And if this was an ordinary day, and these were ordinary pirates here to make trouble, Sanji wouldn't hesitate to rescue the love of his life from these scum and move right along to celebrating their engagement.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But again, he's not stupid. And these are no East Blue pirates, because there's no <em>way</em> pirates of this caliber have been in the weakest sea for long. No, these are Grand Line pirates. And Sanji can tell that despite his relaxed, non-threatening demeanor, the man carrying the mermaid is <em>dangerous</em>. Sanji's gut screams warning that this man could destroy the Baratie and murder everyone in it without breaking a sweat, and Sanji would be helpless to stop him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And it's not just him. There are others who are dangerous too, but Sanji's attention is drawn to the tall man who brings up the rear. Perhaps it's the pompadour, but it's most likely the chef outfit. He looks friendly enough, and isn't exuding power like the captain is, but there's definitely more than meets the eye, and Sanji has the weird feeling that he's seen the man before. Sanji doesn't actively keep track of pirates around the world, but the fact that even Sanji may have seen his bounty poster doesn't bode well.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji knows he can't take them on in a direct confrontation. But he's also not going to let them leave without doing anything, if the mermaid's in the situation he thinks she's in.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>So for now, he puts on his best customer service voice, smiles, and says, "Come right this way, we've got a VIP section."</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. On the Baratie, Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Shortly before the ASL Pirates arrive at the Baratie, on the Merry...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Thatch makes up his mind to accompany Ace back to East Blue, he knows that there's one place he wants to visit no matter what.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>He's only been to East Blue once, and it was honestly ages ago, and he doubts there'll be another chance in the near future. Not many opportunities to visit the weakest Blue as a Commander in an Emperor's crew, after all.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And while Thatch doubts he'd travel halfway around the world for the sole purpose of visiting this spot, he's lucky. Because on this particular trip, it's practically along the way. They're passing right by the area on their way back to re-entering the Grand Line, so there's no way in hell he's letting this slip by.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It's the only request Thatch has made on this journey, and Ace and Luffy, who are the Captains and therefore technically get to decide where they go, have no objections. Luffy's already bobbing up and down in excitement, despite their guides, two bounty hunters they picked up, estimating that they still have a ways to go.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The Baratie, huh," Ace grins, because it's a <em>restaurant</em>, which can only mean one thing. "Never heard of it, we didn't pass by our first time through, did we Deuce?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You've never heard of it because you lived in the middle of nowhere, in a jungle with barely any contact with human civilization," Deuce says pointedly. "<em>Most</em> people in East Blue at least know of it, it's kinda famous."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ace just shrugs, and Luffy whoops as the movement of his shoulders momentarily boosts her higher. Ace indulges her and repeats the movement more aggressively until she's bouncing, and Deuce sighs. The two captains' attentions have shifted, and now they're preoccupied by the most important topic of all: food.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Food~!" Luffy sings, hopping from one arm to the other as Ace switches to spinning her around, and Deuce swears and has to duck to avoid her tail. "Yummy awesome food at a restaurant! It's gonna be amazing!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It really <em>will</em> be amazing, if Zeff hasn't lost his touch," Thatch agrees, and Luffy and Ace cheer, as excitable as children. "I've never eaten at this restaurant of his, but I was a fan of the Cook Pirates when I was a kid."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>His expression darkens, and Ace momentarily stills, recalling that Thatch mentioned they all died or something.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Sucks what happened to them," Ace offers.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But Thatch just shrugs. It was around a decade ago, and shit happens out at sea. "I'm just glad Zeff survived. He'll have trained the new cooks well, and it'll be funny to see the old man actually settled down as a civilian."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch was still a teen the last time he saw Zeff, who was Captain of the infamous Cook Pirates back in the day. They were always picking fights, and picked the wrong one with Pops, and predictably lost. Pops let them live, and they had a grand party, and Thatch remembers being captivated by their culinary expertise.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch chuckles to himself, and the two brothers look at him curiously, blinking with adorably similar expressions. At times like these, it's easy to see that they're siblings.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I just remembered, Zeff tried to scout me. Pops wasn't thrilled."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ace barks a laugh, hefting Luffy into a more comfortable position before she suddenly squirms out of his arms. Luffy makes a grabby motion towards Thatch, and Ace obligingly if reluctantly moves closer to let her swing up onto the taller man's shoulders.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch perks up at the sudden attention, because it's not every day that the little mermaid chooses to climb someone other than her brother. Thatch knows she doesn't need it, but offers her a hand to get settled more comfortably, which she takes with a pleased little purring sound that makes his heart skip a beat. Thatch pointedly doesn't look at Ace, but he can still feel his burning gaze.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He's not sure what prompted the sudden transport transfer, but suddenly Luffy's leaning forward over his shoulder to peer directly into his face, and she's <em>close</em>. Thatch tries very hard not to blush.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"But if the Zeff-dude cooks are that good, are they better than you, Thatch?" Luffy asks, eyes wide. "That can't be right, because Thatch's food is the best in the world! Better than even Makino's!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Those words <em>do</em> make Thatch flush crimson, and Ace snorts. Thatch ignores him, too busy trying to control the warmth bubbling up inside his chest.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch doesn't think he's arrogant, but he also isn't unused to his food being praised. As ungrateful as most of his brothers back aboard the Moby usually are, he's still the head chef who leads the culinary division of their entire fleet, and it's a position he's earned. He's personally trained and assigned all of the cooks on every Whitebeard ship. He knows he cooks well.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But there's something special about Luffy's unique brand of painfully genuine praise. Even though they've been traveling together for a few weeks now, she never gets bored of singing her appreciation at every mealtime with, if anything, increasing enthusiasm. It's like every time is her first time trying his food. Thatch in no way needs her compliments to adore her, he was besotted far before she even knew he was a cook, but boy does he appreciate them, and he doubts he'll ever really get used to them.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch has been called <em>the Greatest Cook in the World </em>by many, even jokingly dubbed the culinary equivalent of Dracule Mihawk's mastery of swordsmanship, which is kinda ridiculous because can those skills really be compared? Nonetheless, Thatch has acknowledged the title politely, because if nothing else, it certainly isn't bad for Pops's reputation.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But to hear the same words from Luffy, who neither knows about nor cares about his titles or experience, who only appreciates the meals Thatch prepares for her for what they are...it honestly feels like the highest personal honor he can ever attain.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch feels unbearably fond as he reaches up to fluff Luffy's hair, and she leans into his hand, eyes curving up into slits like a happy kitten, her tail curling back and forth at his back.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ace cheerfully ruins their moment.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"We'll just have to see, Lu, and maybe if you like their cooking better, we can ditch Thatch and kidnap one of their cooks." Ace leers like the evil little shit he is, and Thatch gasps with exaggerated indignation.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No, no!" Luffy boos her brother, clinging to Thatch like he's the embodiment of all the meals Ace had threatened she'd lose, before she swings her tail around to smack at Ace none too gently until he grudgingly raises his arms in surrender. "If we like their cooking, then we can keep Thatch AND kidnap one of their cooks!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Lil Seastar, you're not satisfied with just me, even if my food is the best in the world?" Thatch teases, and sticks his tongue out at Ace when he scowls. The young Captain isn't so thrilled with Thatch's new nickname for his baby brother, and Thatch thinks it's fair revenge for him being mean.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Thatch's food is the best!" Luffy cries again, and Thatch glows. "But if we steal a Zeff, then we have two cooks, which means more food!" She nods, pleased with her conclusion. "More food is always good!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Well, she's a little confused, but her point is made. They hopefully won't steal <em>Zeff </em>himself, as Thatch doubts he'll be happy to part with his beloved restaurant, but perhaps nabbing one of his assistants isn't a terrible idea.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>While handling even Ace and Luffy's appetites is no problem for Thatch, who's used to feeding the entire Moby Dick, some company in the kitchen might not be bad.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(<em>And</em>, a voice whispers in his head, <em>they'll need a cook that Thatch approves of when he inevitably has to leave to return to Pops</em>. It's a voice Thatch ignores, because he isn't ready to think about goodbyes yet, not now, when it feels like they've only just begun. He wants to enjoy this moment, for now.)</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>In addition to finding All Blue, Sanji has to challenge and win against Thatch in Iron Chef Grand Line in order to claim the title of Greatest Cook in the World.</p>
<p>....JUST KIDDING, no that isn't Sanji's story in this AU at all, but it's still a funny thought :P</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. On the Baratie, Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sanji speaks to a mermaid.</p>
<p>Continues off of On the Baratie, Part 1</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sanji and Gin jolt when they notice the mermaid draped over the rail above them, her tail gripping the wood like an anaconda.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>"Glad you got food!" she says to Gin, who is too busy staring to hear her words. "And you!" now directed at Sanji, "You're cool! Join my crew!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji can't really judge Gin, because he's staring too. It's hard to tear his gaze away from the stunning goddess who has seemingly materialized out of thin air to be within touching distance, but he manages, and--it appears she's alone. The pirates are nowhere in sight.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Are you alright?" his words leave in a soft whoosh, in case the pirates can hear, and Gin finally snaps out of it to look at Sanji with concern.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Me? I'm great! The food here's awesome! I'd be more awesome if you joined my crew!" She grins, and her mouth is full of gleaming pearls, and Sanji struggles not to swoon.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Your...crew?" Sanji's impressed he managed to catch that, he's so entranced by her voice. It's lower than he expected, but rich, and bright, and boyish in a way that matches her wind-tousled hair.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Yeah, I'm a pirate!" She announces proudly, slapping her flukes against the wood in emphasis.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"A...pirate," Sanji repeats. "Those people who came in with you..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"They're my crew! They're awesome!" The pearls flash again.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji's inclined not believe her; he has no clue what the pirates have forced her to say, and even if that's not the case, she has this innocent air to her that suggests she may have been tricked into believing herself a willing member of the crew--but he stops.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There's something about her, the way her big, wide eyes sparkle and her smile shines down on Sanji warmer than the sun, that convinces him that she's telling the truth.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The mermaid really is a pirate. Which means she doesn't need to be rescued.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I see," he manages to say, and slowly forces the tension from his shoulders. He'd be lying if he said there wasn't a small part of him that's disappointed that he won't be able to act as her shining knight. But a much larger part of him is relieved, relieved because he honestly wasn't sure how he'd get rid of the pirates without the shitty old man and the Baratie suffering, and relieved because it means his princess isn't in distress. As much as he'd love to be her hero, Sanji doesn't think he could bear to see her in tears.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They talk some more, and Sanji's once again impressed with his ability to maintain a normal conversation with the mermaid, whose name is Luffy. Gin blanches at her announcement that they're going to the Grand Line, but he'd seen the members of her crew too, and reluctantly nods.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Just be careful out there, monsters live on the Grand Line," Gin warns as he prepares to set off.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It's okay, we have monsters too!" Luffy grins, carefree as can be. Gin and Sanji believe her, though neither at the time suspect that she includes herself among her crew's "monsters."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zeff comes out as Gin's leaving, and Sanji cheerfully destroys the evidence of having fed the starving pirate before the restaurant owner's eyes. Luffy blinks at the exchange, before something seems to click.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, you're the Zeff dude!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zeff's eyebrows climb into his impossibly tall hat. "Oh? And you must be our first ever mermaid customer. The cooks were in quite an uproar over you." His eyes flick to Sanji knowingly, well aware that Sanji had shoved the other cooks aside in order to claim the honor of cooking for their party personally.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Luffy seems weirdly pleased. "Hey, Zeff dude, I found you! Thatch wanted to talk to you. So you should go talk to him!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She's clearly very satisfied at having relayed her message, and Zeff harrumphs. "<em>Thatch</em>, eh? Well that's a name I've heard before...let's go see the brat."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zeff disappears back inside, leaving Luffy alone with Sanji. He feels his heart pounding weirdly again, now that they're by themselves.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You should really join our crew," Luffy says, and her persistence is endearing. She's picking her nose now, and with anyone else, Sanji would complain about how unsanitary it is, but anything done by her is charming. Sanji notes that her nostril seems bizarrely stretchy. How absolutely adorable.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Is your crew in search of a cook, milady?" Sanji allows himself to briefly imagine what it would be like, to travel the world with such a lovely companion. The rest of her pre-existing crew fades to the background, until it's just her and Sanji, leaning against the rail of a beautiful white ship, seagulls soaring through brilliant clear skies as he pulls back the veil to kiss the bride--</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, nope! We already have a cook!" she says cheerfully, shattering the fleeting vision of their blissful honeymoon voyage. "But, that doesn't mean we can't have two! And your food looks great! You should be our cook too!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ah, they already have a cook...Sanji suddenly remembers seeing the pompadour man, the one that had tickled his memory. He frowns, because that niggling sensation won't leave, and something tells him it's important that he remembers where he knows the man from.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I should get back now, or Ace will be mad," Luffy announces, and shimmies up the rail back towards the door that Zeff had left from. She glances back at Sanji expectantly, and Sanji follows, unable to deny his princess's summons.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The rest of Luffy's crew is still lounging in the back VIP section, surrounding the most lavish table in the entire restaurant and given a degree of privacy from outside with the help of thick curtains. Sanji had assigned them to the table in case they needed a nasty confrontation, but it seems like that won't be necessary.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji jolts when he realizes that the pompadour man has risen from his seat to stand in front of Zeff, and the two are talking animatedly. Sanji doesn't remember the last time Zeff looked so pleased to speak with an outsider.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"So yer now the Head Chef of that old man's fleet, eh," Zeff is saying, and the pompadour man looks weirdly bashful. "You woulda been a fine addition to our crew though, kid."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Possibly," Pompadour agrees, "though my place is with Pops."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"And what about now? You change your mind about that, or taking a vacation all the way out here?" Zeff snorts, and Sanji acknowledges the affirmation that yes, these really are Grand Line pirates.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Something like a vacation, and to spend some time traveling with my dearest--Luffy!" he exclaims.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Thatch! I caught a Zeff!" Luffy announces, smacking her tail hard on the ground to bound up onto pompadour man's vacated seat.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>All of the food at the table has been consumed, and Luffy looks sadly at the empty plate as though she had been expecting something to still be there. Sanji wants to immediately return to the kitchen to refill it, but then he notices that Luffy is now <em>licking</em> the plate. Her manners are absolutely beyond atrocious. It suits her though, and Sanji wouldn't want it any other way, because he hasn't ever seen such blatant appreciation for food that he'd cooked, and it's making his entire body buzz with barely contained bliss.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Before Sanji can make his offer to bring more, the pompadour man, <em>Thatch</em>, interrupts. "Lil Seastar, you don't need to do that, I'll make you seconds back on the ship," he says, fluffing Luffy's soft hair and Sanji seethes with jealousy.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It was really good, you were right about the Zeff dude cooks," Luffy says mournfully at Thatch's plate. "Though Thatch's still the best!" She butts her head into Thatch's large palm.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zeff laughs at her words. "High praise, to be compared to you, Whitebeard's lil cook, if you've grown as much as you claim. This meal was prepared by my Sous-chef. Come here Sanji," he says and Sanji blinks at suddenly being addressed.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji's distracted by Thatch's hand on Luffy's head, but forces himself to look up at the tall pirate, who's now scrutinizing Sanji intently. There's something about the man that's really bothering Sanji, like he should really, <em>really</em> know him. Sanji <em>thinks</em> Zeff just said <em>Whitebeard</em>, and if that's the case--those are BIG pirates. Like, the Biggest actually, which is kind of insane. But, Sanji doesn't actually recall being familiar with any officers, other than having heard about Whitebeard himself, so it really doesn't solve the mystery of familiarity.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"So you're Zeff's best, hm?" Thatch says, and even though Sanji can only sense genuine friendliness from his smile, he still feels oddly awkward, unsure how to react. It's not often that Zeff holds another chef in such high regard, and one so much younger than him too. Sanji feels like he ought to be polite, at the very least.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He once again doesn't need to speak, because Luffy beats him to it. "Yeah! He's a good guy! And if he made our food, then he's good at food-making too! I pick him, I've decided. He's gonna join our crew!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji feels his cheeks burn at the praise, but being invited in private is a bit different from having it made into an announcement to an audience Sanji doesn't personally know. "Luffy, darling, please wait--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Lu, what'd we say about inviting people without consulting me? We're both captains here, we need to agree," a voice says lazily from Luffy's other side, and Sanji's gaze jolts to the man who unfolds himself from the shadows like a lethal big cat.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He'd somehow forgotten the others except Thatch, but this is the man who'd carried Luffy in, the <em>dangerous</em> one. He gives a careless nod in Sanji's direction, giving him a cursory sweep with dark, sleepy eyes even as he opens his arm. Luffy, pouting, slides onto the man's lap, and the arm settles again to wrap around her waist.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The move looks intentionally provocative, Sanji thinks, struggling to keep his scowl inside. It's hard to watch them pressed together, the man's bare, rippling torso to Luffy's revealing top and the soft flesh bulging from within. Luffy wraps her lovely coral gemstone tail around the man so it loops behind his chair, making their contact look very mutual. Throughout it all, the man doesn't break eye contact with Sanji.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The man's sending a message, and Sanji gets it loud and clear: <em>Hands off</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji decides he doesn't like the man.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"But Ace, he's a Good Guy, we want him on our crew," Luffy says, staring up at the man with enormous eyes and a wobbly lip that has Sanji internally clutching his chest.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The man, <em>Ace</em>--why does that sound vaguely familiar too?--has the nerve to look bored, even when exposed to the full blast of the gorgeous mermaid's luscious pout, and at this point Sanji has to conclude that the man isn't human, because what mortal could possibly resist her?</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Mm, a <em>Good Guy</em>, huh," Ace says, he gives Sanji a slow, knowing smirk, and Sanji forces himself to hold himself rigid to avoid stepping back. "I dunno Luffy, he's looking at you like you're <em>meat.</em>"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>His gaze gets colder then, and Sanji's indignation dies on his lips.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Meat..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The moment's over when Luffy looks down at herself contemplatively, and her stomach growls.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I take that back," Ace says hastily. "You're not meat, you're fish, and made of rubber at that. Bad idea, Lu."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"How about I get you something, and I can let Zeff see for himself if I've improved while I'm at it?" Thatch slides in. "That is, if you don't mind me borrowing your kitchen, Zeff?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Outsiders don't play in my kitchen, boy," Zeff snorts, and Sanji's relieved at the sudden return to normalcy, but it's short lived. "But for you, I'll make an exception. Let's see it."</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>(....Are people enjoying these on here....? Or should I have stuck to tumblr....?)<br/>(*listens to the crickets*)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. On the Baratie, Part 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Krieg and more.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sanji's never been left <em>this</em> speechless by someone else's food before.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>He's long considered Zeff to be the best chef he knows, the mentor from whom Sanji's polished his own skills, once acquired from lonely textbooks in a cold, cold dungeon cell. Sanji's improved, but there are few dishes he can serve that he feels can top Zeff's.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well?" Thatch asks, crossing his arms, a gentle smile curling his lips.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There's a small feast laid out before them, and to an untrained eye, it looks simple. But when Zeff finishes his first sip of soup, he makes a low, rumbling sound of appreciation, and honestly Sanji can't do anything but silently echo the sentiment.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Food can be incredible. Not only do living things require nourishment to survive, certain kinds can bring out various physical and mental reactions in the consumer. The right diet can encourage healing, improve the senses, even strengthen the body to seemingly inhuman degrees. Food builds the body after all, and the right kind can cause miracles.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But some recipes, Sanji has heard, take food even further <em>beyond</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And this food, this does all of that and more.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Because from the first sip, Sanji immediately feels his body <em>thrum</em> with energy and warmth, and he jolts. What <em>is</em> this? There's no way his body can physically change from taking just a single sip of soup...and yet it feels like it has.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>To eat like this, every meal, every day, every crew member...suddenly, "the Strongest Pirate Crew in the World" seems less an obscure, far away concept, but defined in a way that Sanji not only understands, but leaves him feeling nothing but awe. <em>This</em>, he thinks, <em>this is what you eat to be the Strongest</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji hates to admit it, but he's never had anything like it, not even from Zeff. And the cook, Thatch, did it in with the exact same tools, ingredients, and kitchen that Sanji uses every day.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And while the physical effects are mind boggling enough, there's more.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Because in this food, Sanji can feel the cook's raw intent in an undiluted form that perhaps only Sanji himself can recognize and interpret, as a cook who strives to do the same, but has never quite managed to this level of mastery. And in every ingredient that Thatch added, in every careful stir, Sanji knows what he was pouring in.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>Love.</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji doesn't set his spoon down until the bowl is empty, but when he does, his thoughts feel more organized. And this, Sanji thinks, this food...it's practically a culinary love letter that only Sanji can read.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And Sanji somehow instinctively knows that the love letter is addressed to Luffy.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji's torn. On one hand, he feels that his attraction to Luffy, not even a day old, is painfully inadequate in comparison to not just the devotion of her current cook, but his ability to convey it through his cooking alone. And Sanji knows that at this moment, he has no hope of coming close to replicating the way Thatch shows his love through his food. It's the first time Sanji's felt this way about his craft, and it's humbling.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But on the other hand...Sanji slowly lifts his gaze from the soup to see Thatch with new eyes, but the man's attention is fixed solely on Luffy, who guzzles the soup without a care in the world, no doubt completely unaware of just how special it really is.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>On the other hand, the things Sanji could <em>learn</em> from this cook.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Thatch's cooking is the best," Luffy croons, as Ace reaches around her to roughly wipe her messy face with a napkin. "But! Sanji's cooking is amazing too, and Sanji's cooking will also be the best if he joins our crew!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zeff wasn't exaggerating; it really <em>is</em> an honor to be compared to Thatch. Sanji feels his heart thump heavily, and for once it's not just because of lovely, lovely Luffy.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji doesn't have a response for Luffy, but at the moment he doesn't need to--because Don Krieg walks in.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Things happen in rapid succession.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Gin and Krieg arrive.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Then the greatest swordsman in the world, Dracule Mihawk shows up, and the green haired idiot pounces at the opportunity to challenge him, and immediately loses.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hawk Eyes," Thatch says warningly, with far too much familiarity and lack of fear facing down a Warlord, but perhaps that's to be expected, given that he's a <em>Whitebeard pirate</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Thatch," the swordsman acknowledges, with casual familiarity. "The boy's not dead. Even if he were not under your crew's protection, he has captured my interest."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji frowns at their exchange.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But then he's fighting, and there's no time to worry about it, and the Baratie's in danger, <em>Zeff</em>'s in danger, so Sanji has to fight--</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And then for some reason, <em>Luffy's</em> fighting.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji's heart leaps into his throat the first time he sees her <em>slam</em> into Krieg, and he moves to abandon his own fight to go to her aid, when a hand stops him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It's the Dangerous Man, Ace, the one who acted like he was Luffy's keeper, though that antagonism is gone from him now as he watches the mermaid engage in combat with Krieg. He looks surprisingly calm, and he doesn't move to help Luffy, or even to call her back, but instead looks on silently from the sidelines, leaning against the outer wall of the Baratie next to Thatch and the blue-haired man, who are likewise quiet.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Let her fight," Ace says, though he and his crew mates don't look away.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You don't care if she gets hurt?! That's Don Krieg!" Sanji spits out blood and tries to move towards her again, but Ace's hand doesn't budge.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"And she's my co-captain." Ace says, and Sanji jolts. "We're headed to the Grand Line. Krieg is <em>nothing</em> compared to the opponents we'll face there."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji wants to object, to call the man utterly insane and heartless for using this as what, a <em>training exercise?!</em> for Luffy, who isn't just a delicate lady, but a <em>vulnerable mermaid!</em> Sanji is deeply, personally, <em>painfully</em> aware of how harsh combat training can be, and what it's like to be thrown into a situation your body can't handle no matter how hard you try.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Luffy's already bleeding. Sanji's <em>not</em> going to let her experience what he did as a child, on the whim of this batshit crazy freckled bastard. Adrenaline has completely shot Sanji's restraint, and it suddenly doesn't matter how much stronger Ace is, because Sanji's about to give him a piece of his mind--but then he stops.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Because when Sanji looks at Ace, he doesn't see the cold eyes of a master evaluating the performance of his subordinate (nor a <em>father</em> evaluating and being disappointed in the results of his failed progeny).</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ace, for all his power, looks so incredibly <em>human</em> as he watches Luffy fight. Sanji can tell that he cares for her, that he's worried, but above all, that he has absolute trust in Luffy. And it's that belief in her that keeps him rooted to the spot, when Sanji can now see that he's itching to annihilate Krieg like he no doubt could.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It's the look that true family gives, that people who don't love you can never hope to replicate, and Sanji knows the difference all too painfully well.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And so Sanji turns to watch Luffy as well. He can't say that the fight looks easy for her, but she's holding her own, far better than Sanji would have expected. Despite being a mermaid, she balances easily with her tail to hurl punches that fly far and true with her devil fruit powers, before she spins on her arms to lash out with her fins, delivering a slam that sends Krieg crashing through the wreckage of his own ship.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Her fighting isn't what even Sanji could call particularly elegant, much more like brawling, but he still can't look away.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Luffy's bare hands shatter Krieg's golden armor, before her tail deals the final blow, even as the mermaid herself, bleeding and entangled in Krieg's net, plummets into the sea.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Conviction</em>, Sanji thinks, repeating Zeff's words, his observations of the mermaid.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The three by the Baratie make their moves then, all at once. Ace and Thatch leap forward to dive into the sea after the mermaid, but are slammed to the deck by their blue-haired companion before they can touch the water.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey you! Blond cook!" the blue-haired man shouts, and Sanji realizes he's referring to Sanji. "Go in after her! She's eaten a devil fruit and can't swim, and neither can these idiots! She'll drown!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You'd best do as he says," Zeff agrees, and Sanji swears and takes off sprinting.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Down beneath the waves, it's like the battle overhead never took place, and Sanji wonders if he'd imagined it after all as he finally reaches Luffy. Her eyes are closed, and the majority of blood has already been washed away by the water. Her body is completely limp as Sanji cuts it free of the net so she slides into his arms.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It's his first time touching her, and though she settles heavily and unnaturally against him without a hint of buoyancy...she's soft. Small bubbles rise from her lips, and Sanji realizes that she's breathing underwater. With light from the surface dancing across her face, she looks so incredibly different from when she was awake. She's hauntingly beautiful and serene, and the blue veil over her makes her look like she belongs to another world, like a sleeping sea goddess waiting to be awakened by a kiss. She looks like a true mermaid princess straight out of a fairy tale, not a pirate capable of pummeling an infamous commodore.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji feels his own lungs beginning to scream, and regretfully kicks out, but keeps firm grip of the mermaid in his arms.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>When they break the surface, wreckage is around them, and hands immediately pull them onto the deck. Sanji reluctantly lets Luffy go.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Luffy!" Ace shouts, all pretense of calm gone as he pulls Luffy into his arms to peer down at her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Luffy doesn't gasp for air like a human who's been under water, but rather takes a longer, deeper breath, and slowly opens her eyes as though finally realizing that it isn't fluid, but air in her lungs.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey, Ace," she says, lips quirking into a smile as she continues to breath in deeply. "Told you I could beat him."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"So you did," he agrees, crushing her briefly against his chest, before pulling them apart so he can catalog her injuries.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Thanks for that," a new voice says, and Sanji looks up to see the blue-haired man offering him a hand, which he takes. "I can't guarantee Ace'll agree, but I for one am all for more swimmers joining us. I'm Deuce."</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>(Deuce, probably: So Nami stole our ship, Usopp’s following her with a half-dead Zoro and the two bounty hunters, leaving…fantastic, me alone with three stupid devil fruit users. Again.)</p>
<p>Some notes regarding Thatch from Novel A, the Ace-centric OP novels that I'm referencing for my portrayal of him in this AU:</p>
<p>1) Thatch is the Head Cook/Head of Dining of the entire Whitebeard Fleet</p>
<p>2) Thatch’s division, the 4th, is also primarily in charge of Dining, including but not limited to cooking, gathering food such as hunting and fishing, and presumably procuring other foodstuffs from their territory.</p>
<p>3) It’s a little hard to tell from the wording whether he’s just calling it that, or whether it really is Special, but possibly implied that he can cook especially energizing and nourishing foods (in the novel, stamina soup for Pops), possibly like the Kamabakka Kingdom recipes. It makes sense to me that he can, so that's how I'm interpreting it.</p>
<p>(note, I have not read the official English translation, so have no clue what they chose to translate these things as, I only got the original Japanese which is enough for me ^ ^;)</p>
<p>Regarding the last point, I DO headcanon that Thatch knows the Kamabakka recipes as well, and is friends with Kamabakka Kingdom cooks. I also headcanon that Iva-chan’s okama aren’t the only country or culture that has Special Foods like that, and Thatch has a very, VERY broad repertoire ;D So Sanji just encounters those Special Recipes and the potential of upgrading his cooking way earlier in this AU than in canon.</p>
<p>I also just love the idea of both Thatch and Sanji, both master cooks, being able to read parts of each other through their cooking that goes completely unnoticed by everyone else on the crew &lt;3 Their relationship in this AU is really important to me!</p>
<p>As always, thank you so much for reading, and any thoughts you’d like to share with me are immensely appreciated and contribute to me wanting to continue to update here! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. On the Baratie, Part 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sanji's decision.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the calm after the battle, after Luffy's been bandaged up by Deuce, Sanji tells Luffy about his dream, about All Blue, and she listens with eyes that sparkle brighter than even the gleaming jewels in her tail.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>"You'll find it," she says. "Come with us."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She's amazing, Sanji thinks. Luffy is far more amazing than he could have ever imagined when he first saw her. Because she isn't just the most beautiful woman he's ever met, nor is she just the embodiment of every sailor's most fervent fantasies come to life. She's strength, she's determination, she's <em>conviction</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She's going to become the Pirate King.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And Sanji thinks maybe, maybe he could follow someone like that.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Not bad," a voice says from behind them, and Sanji spins, because he hadn't sensed the man joining what he thought had been a private conversation with Luffy.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji flushes, because he knows Ace doesn't have a good impression of him. Sanji grits his teeth and braces himself for the mocking to come, because it always does when he says he wants to find the sea that's more myth than destination for most. Even if Luffy didn't, that doesn't mean her co-captain won't.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Except he doesn't, and Ace slowly smiles, and he looks...strangely gentle. "You'll do," he says, before turning around and disappearing back inside.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He hadn't even bothered to warn Sanji about his proximity to Luffy.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The next person Sanji talks to is Thatch, who's helping clean up the kitchen after the fight outside had shaken everything out of place. Sanji finds the man with a mop, complimenting some blushing cooks on the care they've put into maintaining their work stations.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey, you...Thatch, was it?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji still doesn't know how to act around the man. He doesn't <em>feel</em> intimidating, not like Ace does, and it's hard to believe that this seemingly ordinary stranger created the insane food Sanji had tasted before Krieg had come.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, Zeff's kid, what's up?" Thatch passes the mop off to another cook, and leans against a counter, looking perfectly at home despite this being the Baratie's kitchen.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji doesn't bother correcting him. It feels nice, being called Zeff's kid, he thinks. Much nicer than being called <em>that man</em>'s child. He likes it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Your cooking...it was incredible," Sanji manages. Awkward, he thinks, awkward, and utterly insufficient in describing it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Aww, glad you liked it," Thatch says with a bashful little grin, as though he hadn't effortlessly created the best food Sanji's ever had in his life. And maybe to him, it really was nothing. Sanji feels more respect than bitterness.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You like Luffy," are the next words out of Sanji's mouth, and he winces because he hadn't meant to say that, but <em>it's a love letter</em>, had crossed his mind again.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch's eyebrows go up. "Well, yeah? How could anyone not love Seastar? Or do you mean..." Thatch laughs then, but it's not at all mocking, just incredulous. "Wait, is<em> that</em> what you got out of my cooking?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Am I wrong?" Sanji shouldn't feel so defensive, but he does. This man loves the girl who's stolen Sanji's heart, and at the moment, Sanji knows he's not even competition. The least Thatch can do is admit it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Mmm...I suppose you aren't," Thatch concedes, "but if that's all you got from it, you can dig a lil deeper."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji frowns. He doesn't think he read wrong, because he's confident in his ability to read food, and he had sensed <em>love love Love</em>. But he also doesn't think Thatch would lie.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Could I learn how?" Sanji doesn't just mean tasting, and he knows Thatch knows, and also hears the unsaid <em>from you</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch smiles.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Zeff and the other Baratie cooks had apparently been preparing a scene for Sanji, in which they insult his cooking to make him feel like he <em>needs</em> to leave if he continues to refuse to join the pirates.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Luckily there's no need for it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You may already have a cook, but there's no demerit to having multiple, especially out at sea," Sanji begins, and Luffy's eyes light up, but for once Sanji's trying to focus more on her co-captain. "I'd like to join your crew."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Yes!!!...right, Ace?" Luffy peers eagerly into the face of the man she's currently balanced on, adjusting her arms on his muscular shoulders.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hmm, I dunno..." Ace pretends to think, and Luffy viciously chomps his ear. "<em>Ow</em>, just kidding. Welcome to the ASL Pirates."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji's packing, trying to only gather the essentials but occasionally pausing to soak in the nostalgia of the room that had been his home for so long, when his hands still.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He's spotted a bundle of old, worn magazines wedged between much thicker books. They were among the first of their kind that Sanji had ever gotten his hands on. Sanji read cookbooks Before, but seeing cooking <em>magazines</em>, with stories about the people and culture behind the cooking, had been new to him when he first encountered them after joining Zeff.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It was a piece of the world from Outside (outside the confines of a hostile, mobile military fortress), and Sanji had been fascinated. He certainly hadn't cared that the magazines were published decades before Sanji had obtained them, second hand at a used bookstore they'd passed by on a little island before the Baratie had been completed. And Zeff indulged him, collecting more, claiming that it was to build up his future restaurant's cookbook library, though they were all hoarded in Sanji's room.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>None of the other magazines captured Sanji's interest like those first ones though. Because in them was a column tracking the story of a boy, who at the time the magazines had been published, had been around Sanji's age. A boy prodigy who had won multiple international cooking competitions, even owned his own restaurant and soup kitchen, but who left it all behind to travel the world to further polish his craft.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>To Sanji, who had only ever encountered adults interested in cooking, the column on the boy was more fascinating and inspiring than any fictional story could ever hope to be. And even though he had no objection to helping Zeff with his dream of completing and running the Baratie, at night, Sanji would escape into the articles, imagining himself traveling alongside the boy to different countries, exploring and studying different environments and ingredients and the culinary cultures that had evolved in them.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>While the columns were written by some professional journalist, there was always a clip included of the boy's personal notes. Scrawled and messy, they showed the child behind them, and Sanji always imagined them as something like personal letters addressed to himself.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji's brush with death and starvation is forever engrained in his mind, but he has little experience exploring other less developed islands, certainly none by himself. He knows little about the hardships of travel, nor the joy of adventure. Reading the columns, he experiences them through the boy, learning through his words without ever leaving his own bedroom.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Don't waste anything edible, ever, or you'll regret it once you're stuck on a tiny boat</em>, the boy wrote. In another article, <em>you might think it tastes bad, but know who its friends are and it'll usually work out. </em>In yet another, <em>sometimes you don't have the right money, or any money at all, but you still gotta eat. Remember that when someone asks for free food.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>The boy's words influenced many of Sanji's beliefs, that he otherwise likely wouldn't have held so firmly, having never personally experienced their applications himself.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But magazines, especially out of print ones, are hard to obtain out at sea, even more so when they don't even originate from East Blue. Despite years of hunting, Sanji never managed to collect all of the boy's stories, and eventually, he realized that they were no longer being published. He never found out if the column was cut, or if it had a conclusion in an issue he was missing, or if something happened to the boy.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It's been years since Sanji's last flipped through them, but on a whim, he takes one, feeling oddly sentimental and wanting to say goodbye to this important part of his childhood memories at the Baratie.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And as he opens the weathered pages to the article, and looks at the photo of the familiar smiling boy, he sees something that he'd apparently forgotten, and it makes the cigarette fall from his lips.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The boy's name.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Thatch</em>.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>One more part, an epilogue, to this mini series! Thanks so much for reading, and if you're enjoying this, any comments or kudos would be hugely appreciated!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. On the Baratie, Part 5 Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They've left East Blue and the Baratie far behind, but Sanji still has something he's been meaning to ask Thatch about...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This technically isn't the Baratie at all, but after the last chapter, I kinda wanted to follow up. This part contains my own personal headcanons for Thatch's backstory, since I doubt we'll get to learn more about him in canon.</p>
<p> <b>＊TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THIS PART＊:</b> Non-graphic violence, gore, unwilling self-harm, a mention of thoughts of suicide, and body horror. Canon-typical dark backstory, and again everything is non-graphic, but just a head's up it's there ^ ^;</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They've been traveling together for a while now. With more additions to the crew, Sanji's no longer the newest member. They leave East Blue, crossing over to the Grand Line. Their voyage continues onward.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>Fitting into his role as the second cook of the ASL Pirates was easier than Sanji could have ever hoped, and he knows it's largely due to Thatch. Thatch, who, for all his incredible skill and titles and history, turns out to be...a remarkably normal person. It takes less than an hour for Sanji's awe over Thatch being his childhood idol to turn into pure indignation when the other cook professes his love for Luffy, and now their daily proposals to Luffy with food are just part of routine on the Merry.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(Sanji knows his cooking is still amateur in comparison to Thatch's, but none of their crew seems to realize, and Luffy eats all their food with equal gusto. Even Thatch himself only ever compliments Sanji, often with ridiculous faux outrage that Sanji's cooking looks better, which is absolutely false, Sanji would know. But even so, the man sounds so genuinely offended that Sanji can't help but appreciate the lengths the older man will go to in order to keep Sanji from feeling inferior. It's easy to imagine him being adored by all his subordinates in the Whitebeard pirates.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It's during a rare moment of calm, when the skies are clear and Deuce and Nami seem relaxed about their progress, when Sanji decides there's never going to be a better time to ask. He finishes washing the last of the pastry plates from the desserts the crew had just finished devouring (his hands momentarily pause on a plate that Ace had to pull out of Luffy's throat when she swallowed it whole along with the pastry, and Sanji allows himself a moment of imagining that the plate with her slobber is somewhat like an indirect kiss...), before he exits the kitchen to go to his locker.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>From the locker, buried beneath gravure magazines of buxom ladies whose beauty will never compare to Luffy's, he pulls out a magazine far more valuable to him, the only one of its kind that he'd brought with him from the Baratie.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Back up on the main deck, Sanji finds Thatch sitting by the mast while watching Luffy and Usopp play with some new contraption the latter made. He looks up when he senses Sanji's approach, grimacing when the movement makes the wind blow his now loose hair into his mouth.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I need a hair tie if Marco's not going to send me my damn hair wax," Thatch complains, even as he pats the ground next to him for Sanji to sit.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You could always ask our lovely navigator," Sanji grunts as he drops down, careful not to fold the magazine, which Thatch has yet to notice.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Ah, beautiful Miss Nami might have one, but her hair's pretty short...honestly more likely Deuce'll have one." Thatch sulks, because he'd really rather get a hair tie from a pretty lady, but as it is, Thatch probably has the longest hair on the crew at the moment, followed by their first mate. "If only our ladies had longer hair...ah, my darling Seastar with long hair..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji lets himself get drawn into imagining their most dazzling Lady Captain leaning against the rail of the Merry, sunlight sparkling off the waves in the background paling in comparison to her radiance. Her face is shadowed by her trademark straw hat, before she raises her head, causing long, silky strands to ripple around her like dark angel wings, glittering threads of black diamond dancing across her cheeks before she tucks them behind her ear with a small smile--</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Both cooks sigh dreamily in perfect unison.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey Luffy, they're thinking somethin' pervy about you again!" Usopp shouts in the background.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Both cooks ignore him, likewise in perfect synch.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch regretfully pulls out of his Luffy Vision first. "So, you got something to talk to me about?" He knows it can't be about dinner, because they'd already started prepping for that.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji blinks, and oh, there's Luffy, with her short hair, still just as lovely, probably doing something incredibly stupid and dangerous, but that's okay because Sabo's stepping in, and the Revolutionary may be batshit crazy but he won't let Luffy hurt herself--and right, he wanted to talk to Thatch.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He carefully brings the magazine out in front of him, and Thatch leans over curiously. The pages easily fall open to the column, remembering the page Sanji poured over countless times. Sanji hears Thatch's breath hitch.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"This you?" Sanji asks, looking at the faded photo of the smiling boy, before his eyes flick to Thatch.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The older man's eyes are wide, glued to the page. Sanji wordlessly offers him the magazine, and Thatch slowly takes it, his hands handling the paper carefully as though worried it'll crack.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Yeah, that's me alright," Thatch murmurs, eyes scanning the column before his lips twist into a wry smile. "How the hell'd you get your hands on this fossil?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Found it while we were looking for stuff for the Baratie's collection, some old second hand shop," Sanji says, and it's not a lie, but it's not like he can admit he was obsessed with them and actually hunted for them after obtaining the first ones.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch makes a low sound of understanding, before he starts flipping through the rest of the magazine, pages that Sanji honestly doesn't even remember. "I wonder if this magazine's still even going..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It is," Sanji informs him. "It's changed a lot, but we still get it delivered."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch laughs then, shaking his head as he closes the magazine and hands it back to Sanji with the same care. "I'm sure it <em>has</em> changed, after what happened, oh man..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji frowns. So something <em>did</em> happen.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"So how did the kid in this end up a Whitebeard pirate?" he asks, but he means, <em>How did the boy's adventure end</em>?</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Mm, you sure you wanna know? It's not a particularly nice story, though I suppose it has a happy end." Thatch leans back heavily against the mast, his hand subconsciously reaching up to brush hair away from his face, lingering on the deep, if old scar around his left eye. Sanji wonders if it's related.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"If it's something you don't mind sharing. I'm sure I can handle it."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They're interrupted by a crash, and look up to see Sabo heaving Luffy up back over the rail by the end of her tail. She'd clearly almost fallen overboard, again, but is laughing as carefree as ever, even as Usopp wrings his hands apologetically behind them. Sabo doesn't look mad though, and is stroking Luffy's hair now that she's safely back on deck and in his arms, his face disgustingly besotted.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Deuce and Nami come out of the cabin at the noise, and Ace and Zoro startle awake from their respective naps as well. Deuce takes one look at what's going on, and launches into a full blown scolding session for all three of the members involved, clearly dissatisfied with the way Sabo handled it. It had only taken the first mate a few days in his company before Deuce had determined that no matter how sensible Sabo may seem at times, he's still Another Stupid Brother, and therefore gets the same treatment.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The rest of the crew listening in winces when Deuce hurls a, "Luffy being stupid is one thing, but you're <em>WAY</em> too lenient with her, you foolish Revolutionary!" Nami and Koala cheer him on in the background.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>("Told you," Ace mouths, before hastily looking away when Deuce's gaze snaps to him.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Usopp looks thoroughly chastised and sincerely sorry, Sabo looks weirdly pleased as though being told he's lenient is a compliment, and Luffy looks bored and is searching for an escape when her gaze lands on the two cooks.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Thatch! <em>Story time?!</em>" is all the warning they get, before Luffy's arms grab onto the mast behind them and the mermaid torpedoes head-first into Thatch's chest. It's a testament to the Whitebeard Commander's sturdiness that all he does is grunt at the considerable impact, even as Sanji winces in sympathy. That'll definitely bruise.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Alright, yeah story time, if anyone wants to hear my boring old past," Thatch agrees, and Luffy cheers, turning herself sideways and flopping down on Thatch's crossed legs to look up at him with eyes sparkling with anticipation. Sanji isn't even jealous, because in her new position, Luffy's thrown her tail across Sanji's lap, and he begins reverently rubbing circles into her soft scales, heat creeping up his cheeks when her flukes flick with pleasure.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Deuce sighs, giving up on his scolding as everyone gathers around the cooks. But he doesn't seem too disappointed, and pulls out his notebook as he joins them, as though he intends to record whatever Thatch's going to say. Ace plops himself down on Thatch's other side, ruffling Luffy's hair distractedly and hiding his curiosity poorly. Sanji gets the feeling that despite knowing him for much longer, Ace hasn't heard much about Thatch's past either.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well, so..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch was born to a middle class family in a relatively active port town on the Grand Line. His parents ran a modest diner, certainly nothing high class, but popular enough among the locals to almost always have full seats.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch was what they called a "child prodigy." He'd started helping in the kitchen simply because he wanted to do the same things as his parents, but by the time he was seven, he'd already surpassed both of them in skill. His parents decided to leave the kitchen to him, while they focussed on management.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>With Thatch behind the menu, the restaurant's popularity grew, drawing more traffic. Among their visitors were occasional food critics, who spread their business's reputation and made it something of a cult tourist spot.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>When Thatch was nine, his father came up with the idea that it might be good publicity for people to know that a literal child was behind their now famous restaurant's food. And in the name of said publicity, he also decided to have the restaurant officially under Thatch's name, although is parents still managed it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Child prodigy chef owns his own restaurant," was definitely a headline that journalists latched onto. The berries were rolling in.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch himself, he didn't really care about that. He rarely ever left the kitchen now, constantly cooking, constantly coming up with new menu items, constantly training new chefs as their once small family diner expanded into a chain. He didn't really mind it, he loved cooking after all, but he often wished he still had time to talk to patrons, or explore town. While there weren't any child labor laws in their country, he couldn't go to school or make friends or do anything a normal child might otherwise enjoy.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>So when the largest, most prominent cooking magazine sent a representative to talk about a potential column centered around him, Thatch was hopeful. He'd always dreamed of leaving the island, and it'd never seemed like an achievable dream. He wanted exposure to new things to expand his cooking repertoire, and he wanted to be able to challenge himself as a cook--but more than anything, he also just wanted go and see what might be out there, outside of his diner's kitchen.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>His parents reluctantly agreed. At this point, Thatch had trained enough experienced cooks and their reputation was established enough that Thatch's temporary absence wouldn't damage them. And Thatch knew his parents were drawn by the potential for greater publicity from the column, and Thatch (and their restaurant) possibly becoming a household name not just on the Grand Line, but across the world.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(Thatch never thought his parents were bad people, or even bad parents. He hadn't wanted for anything, and they let him pursue and nurture his passion. That they were business-minded, and had also come to see Thatch as an asset and publicity tool was something he understood. They still loved him, in their own way.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>His parents' only condition was that Thatch return in a few years, before he was fifteen. A "child prodigy" becomes less interesting with age, and eventually becomes "a normal adult." They wanted Thatch back before that, to reestablish his connection to their diner before he inevitably faded out of public interest, or had to re-establish his identity as an adult cook.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And so at eleven years old, what seemed like the entire town saw off Thatch, who set sail on a small ship manned by experienced sailors, and chaperoned by the journalist who would be documenting his voyage.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>For the first two years, the journey was everything Thatch had ever wanted. They would go to new islands, information was provided to him by the journalist, and then he would be given free reign to do whatever he wanted, so long as it included food and cooking, which is what Thatch would have been drawn to do anyway. That there were always a handful of adults a few paces behind him, documenting everything he did and forcing him to talk out loud while he worked, all eventually faded into the background. Thatch got used to voicing his inner thoughts for their benefit. It was hardly a chore, and Thatch was having the time of his life.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But all things eventually change. Due to the success of the column, Thatch's journalist was given a promotion, and the last stretch of his journey before Thatch was to return to his home island was assigned to a new journalist. Thatch had always known that their relationship was strictly professional, and was used to changing traveling companions at this point. It felt a bit lonely that the first journalist, the only person who had remained a constant, was leaving...but he understood.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It was just business, after all.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The new journalist replaced the old one, and their journey continued--or at least, it was supposed to.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Child!Thatch, adult Thatch would later think, was remarkably naive and sheltered for all that he was a veteran cook. He was used to having things being laid out in front of him on a neat platter, for the adults in his life to control all aspects of his life, conveniently convincing himself that it's what he wanted anyway. He was used to the adults taking care of all the details, because all Thatch had to do to make everyone happy was cook. He not once doubted those responsible for his life, and blindly trusted that they would keep everything smooth and safe for him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Because when one day, thirteen-year old Thatch woke up to see red staining the walls of the cabin, and then looked around to find the corpses of everyone else on the ship strewn around him, it took a remarkably long time for him to process that this definitely <em>wasn't</em> what was supposed to happen.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He was disoriented, too numb to even feel panic or put up a fight when the new journalist came in and tied him up to pass him to the pirates who had decimated the crew.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Pirates</em>. It wasn't the Golden Age of Piracy yet, and although the Roger Pirates and other famous names were often whispered about, most sailors didn't expect to personally run into pirates. Thatch had been warned of their existence, but hadn't really thought much on them, as they had seemed irrelevant to his own peaceful civilian adventures.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The pirates and the journalist had a deal, he gathered. The pirates had wanted to get their hands on the famous child prodigy cook, and were willing to pay good money. The journalist had agreed, and had summoned the pirates to their location. Everyone but Thatch and the journalist had been killed to erase witnesses.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Before handing Thatch off to them, the journalist demanded payment first. Thatch remembers wondering why the journalist hadn't demanded anything <em>before</em> agreeing to the deal--it seemed a bad business tactic.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch was standing right next to the journalist when the pirate captain drew his sword. Thatch wasn't scared, because he knew he wouldn't be hurt. He was an asset. And he probably knew what would happen before the journalist did.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He still remembers feeling the whoosh of air as the sword came, the sound of it hitting flesh, the dull thunk, the loosening of the arms gripping the rope that held Thatch bound.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch thought <em>ah, so human heads can be severed just as easily as fish heads.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch didn't put up a fuss, going with the pirates. It was clear he couldn't have stayed on the ransacked ship, because even if he did, he had no way of manning the ship alone, even if he knew how. And so he wordlessly followed, and continued to do what he'd done his whole life: obey adults.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And at first it wasn't bad. A kitchen was a kitchen, no matter how dirty, and Thatch knew how to please people with food. The pirates seemed overjoyed with Thatch's skill.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But some part of Thatch really wondered if that's all they wanted from him, and that bad feeling manifested itself as reality soon.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Hey brat</em>, the captain said one day, and dumped a sack of ingredients Thatch had never used before into the kitchen. <em>Turn this into something good. We need to get rid of an entire rival crew, and they're gluttons</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch may never have used them before, but he recognized the things in the bag. They were all things he knew to avoid.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The pirate captain was asking him to make poison.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch was a cook. No matter the reasons why people wanted him to cook, no matter who benefited and what money was passed around, and no matter how terrible the conditions--Thatch was alright so long as he could cook. Thatch cooked so that he could make delicious things that would in the end, contribute to nourishing people. He polished his skills to make that experience better, to make his patrons happier, to make himself feel more accomplished as a result.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Poison...that wasn't something that a cook could make.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch, for the first time, spoke back to an adult. He felt that numb feeling again, over any fear. <em>I'm a cook, I can't make anything that can harm people. Please let me start preparing dinner.</em> Thatch stated it as fact, and to him, it was.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The pirate struck Thatch. It was the first time he'd ever been hit, because as a child prodigy, as an <em>asset</em>, he'd always been too valuable to damage. But now...</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>You'll make it, or we have no need for you</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Bars were added to the kitchen, making it Thatch's cell. All edible ingredients were confiscated. And every day, the pirates came in with more ingredients, more demands.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>Make an aphrodisiac. Make a date rape drug. Make something that'll make someone lose feeling in their limbs. Make something that'll cause loss of senses. Make something that'll cause crazy hallucinations. Make something deadly, but undetectable in water. Make something that can dissolve guts from the inside out. Make something that won't kill, but cause excruciating pain. Make something that WILL kill, but only after several days.</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The pirates didn't want a cook. They wanted a master poisons brewer. Which, Thatch was not.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Every time Thatch refused, they beat him. They threatened to cut off his legs, because why would he need them, when all he needed were his hands? They threatened to carve out his eyes, and the captain stabbed a knife close to his left eye to show how serious he was. They left Thatch with running water, but didn't give him anything to eat, other than the deadly, horrible ingredients they'd left inside the kitchen for him to turn into even worse poisons.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch sorted the ingredients by those least harmful, and kept himself alive by reluctantly eating those first, but knew that the longer this continued, the more permanent and fatal the damage those ingredients would cause.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(He tried to come up with ways to use what he had to nullify effects, but he was just a kid, and it was his first time trying to make actual medicine. His experiments were risky, and often failed.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch didn't know how long he was in there, his sense of time and self muddled as he survived off of numbing agents and aphrodisiacs and hallucinogens. They barely kept him alive, and made him feel horrible. He tried to remember why it was so important he kept eating them, and rationing them like they were valuable.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>In the corner of the kitchen was an ever growing pile of bright, beautiful fruits that he <em>knew</em> would cause immediate agonizing death...but they looked so lusciously juicy and ripe, and it was getting harder to remember why he couldn't eat them.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Perhaps it was the hallucinogens, perhaps it was everything wrong with his body that Thatch had unwillingly caused himself by eating, but one day, Thatch realized he was going through the movements of peeling those fruits, chopping them, squeezing the juices and watching with fascination as they sizzled into the bubbling pot he was brewing. He was too entranced by the concoction to even notice that his hands were burning and blistering, or perhaps they were just too numb for him to feel pain.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He added spices, adjusted heat, and hummed. It had been too long, since he had cooked.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Except he wasn't cooking, because this wasn't food.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It smelled quite delicious, Thatch thought, mildly impressed with himself. Something tropical and fruity, mellowed by mushrooms and a great many other herbs. And it looked aesthetically pleasing, with its dancing, hypnotic colors. If he hadn't known what had gone into it, he'd consider it presentable to critics as his next seasonal special.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But now that it was done, and ready to be served, Thatch had no clue what to do with it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He hadn't thought that far (he wasn't thinking at all), and didn't know how to think about the thing he had made, when it wasn't edible.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He supposed he could possibly see if it could melt through the bars of his cell, though he wasn't sure where he'd even go if he could escape. The cell didn't have any windows, and Thatch wasn't even sure they were at an island, they could still be on open water. Thatch might be able to throw it on a pirate, as a weapon. But there were dozens of pirates on board, and not nearly enough for all of them.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He could drink it himself. It would be an escape of sorts, he supposed.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It never crossed Thatch's mind to offer the concoction to the pirates, as a creation to be used.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He stood in the kitchen for hours, aimlessly stirring the pot, watching the brew get darker and darker, its magical colors turning into murky brown. Eventually, it became a thick, black tar-like substance that reflected no light, that looked like a void as Thatch stared into it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A thin gray haze gradually began filling the room, and Thatch was well aware of it. He was already starting to feel noticeably worse than before. He supposed that was one way of giving himself a time limit: he'd either decide what to do with the brew, or succumb to the fumes first.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He distantly heard muted sounds overhead, and he realized the pirates may be fighting someone. It happened once in a while. But it was usually with other pirates, and he doubted it was the marines, and no civilian vessel would dare get close to such an obvious pirate ship. And well, if it was pirates...that's just more of the same, wasn't it?</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch eventually heard footsteps approaching the room, and someone coughing as they inhaled the fumes, now dense enough to be a dark smog that made it hard to see his own hands (or maybe that was the effect of the poison in him).</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A creak--the cell doors were opening.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch could barely think anymore, but made a split second decision. He didn't know what the consequences would be, but had a hunch he wouldn't survive long enough to find out anyway, so what did it matter.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He picked up the pot, and hurled all of its contents at the approaching figure.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There was a <em>FUCK!</em> and then--</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch won't ever forget what happened when that brew hit a human body.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But as he fell, the last of his strength gone, wondering if he should feel horrible or proud that he killed someone on his way out, Thatch saw the room light up, the black haze vanishing into searing, brilliant turquoise flames.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"And so that's how I met Marco!" Thatch says, voice surprisingly chipper, even though Sanji feels like retching.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You melted him," Ace says flatly, voice a mix of horror and awe.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Sure did, if he had been anyone else they probably woulda been a puddle of human goo, and even he got halfway there," Thatch agrees, his hands stroking Luffy's hair harder, as they'd been doing all throughout his story telling. "Though lucky me, to have thrown poison at possibly one of the only people in the world with instant self-regeneration and possibly immortality."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Was he mad? Pineapple bird-man. Melting doesn't sound very fun," Luffy frowns. She'd admittedly fallen asleep for most of the story, but woke up again when Thatch's hands in her hair got more tense, more urgent. She contentedly nuzzles into his thigh, more interested in making sure that Thatch's alright than in his answer, and she purrs when he crooks his fingers to scritch her reassuringly.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh sure, he was mad for a little bit, but he's a nice guy and was a worry-wort even back then, so he brought me to Pops. And well, it took a while, but we're best buddies now and have been for years! Fancy that."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Deuce was shaking his head. "I still can't believe that stupid crew wanted to take down Pops with <em>poison</em> of all things, and were stupid enough to enter his territory without it even being ready."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well, it's not like they could have won in direct combat, and to be fair, back then the Four Emperors weren't that established, and territories in the New World were a lot looser than they are now." Thatch shrugged. "If nothing else, it was a creative angle, if a poorly thought out one, unlike <em>some people's</em> way of challenging Pops." Ace fidgets uncomfortably here, and Deuce snorts.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You..." Sanji's finally recovering from his queasiness, because <em>fuck</em> Thatch's tale really <em>wasn't</em> pretty, especially from a cook's perspective. "You don't mind fighting, and killing people now?" He glances at the swords strapped to Thatch's belt, and thinks about his own insistence to never use his hands in combat.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well, I'd prefer not to do it, same as anyone else. But I don't mind fighting in general, and once Pops adopted me, I wanted to be able to defend myself." Thatch laughs here, and it sounds bitter, making Luffy look up. "Haruta actually suggested I use poison, if I knew how to make one that could almost take down the Phoenix, and, well...that's a no. May have thrown him overboard for that, but he deserved it. I told them I was good with knives, and Vista helped me develop my own style."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The conversation moves on then, the other crew members chipping in with questions, but Sanji sort of tunes it all out. He thought he was over his queasiness, but it's back again. Being forced to brew poison, and being offered nothing but harmful things to eat...<em>fuck</em>. Even Judge hadn't done that...</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He feels something wrap around him then, and Sanji looks down, and realizes that Luffy's looped her tail so that her flukes curl behind his back, securely holding him, even as she continues to nuzzle Thatch's leg for attention.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>How weak he must be, Sanji thinks, to need his captain's comfort now. But it helps, and he gradually relaxes.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Eventually the others realize that the story's over, and disperse back to their usual tasks, leaving Thatch and Sanji and a snoozing Luffy curled around both of their laps.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well, I guess that explains how the boy prodigy's journey ended," Sanji says, reaching over to Thatch's side to run his hand through Luffy's hair, smiling when she hums happily.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch makes a soft sound, that sounds like possibly disagreement. "Well, sure, I ended up joining the Whitebeard pirates, and never ended up going back to my hometown. Everyone thought I was dead anyway, and being on the Moby was better than any restaurant for me, because I got to feed my brothers <em>and </em> travel, at least wherever the Moby goes, and that's still a fine adventure in its own way. But I guess you're right in that with a territory and a literal army backing me up...it's not quite the same kind of adventure--it doesn't really have that trill of the unknown."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch looks up then, and when his eyes sweep across their little ship, and the small crew strewn about it, he looks fond. "But I guess in a way, that's what I'm doing now, isn't it? I may no longer be a 'boy prodigy,' but me traveling with you guys, going back up the Grand Line...it's sorta like that journey again."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji blinks.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The end of that journey...maybe you're on it with me, right now." Thatch winks.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sanji snorts. "That's so cheesy," he says, but he doesn't meant it, not really, because he can't deny the giddiness that begins welling up in him at the thought.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Because what adult doesn't still have a child inside them, buried underneath layers of years, still craving those wishful dreams from long ago?</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There's a moment of silence, before both cooks break out into laughter, carefree and boyish.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And so their journey continues onward.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Aaand that’s a wrap! For this lil story series within this ever growing AU at least!</p>
<p>It may be a cheesy ending, but it still feels like an ending of sorts? which, is something I usually never actually manage to write to, everything I write is usually either short or abandoned….so I Feel Accomplished ^ ^;;</p>
<p>If you managed to get through it all, thanks so much for reading and sticking with this!!!! ;A; I’m definitely extremely curious to know if you have any thoughts regarding my take on Thatch’s past, or anything else, because as always any comments are HUGELY appreciated!</p>
<p>The next update for this work will return to random short stories. I haven't decided if I want to keep updating twice a week, or drop down to once a week...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. On Eustass Kid</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Kid's stuck with a mermaid as his cellmate in Udon.<br/>(omg they were <i>cellmates</i>)</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>When I said this is a non-chronological collection of stories, I MEANT non-chronological ^ ^; Yes this jumps to the Wano arc.</p>
<p>This was originally an ask prompt from Tumblr that I ended up writing a mini story for. I expanded it further before posting here, so there's some new AO3 only content in here!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eustass Kid doesn’t give a flying fuck that Monkey D. Luffy is a woman, and mermaid. She's still a rival, dare he say his equal, and someone he’ll have to defeat and overcome on his way to becoming Pirate King.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>When they have the great misfortune of being thrown in the same prison cell together in Udon, Kid's <em>pissed</em>, but it's because she's Straw Hat, so of course seeing her, especially <em>here</em>, would make him pissed. She's in an alliance with freakin' <em>Trafalgar</em> and defeated Doflamingo, and the world's in an uproar about her and her crew after their disappearance for two whole years. So what the hell's she doing, looking all beat up and stuck in this shit hole along with Kid?!</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They glare at each other all night until apparently Kid falls asleep, because the next thing he knows it's morning and it's another day of chopping and dragging stupid rocks. Except Straw Hat is here now, grumpily slithering beside him, and wait--her slab of stone is <em>BIGGER</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>That won't do at all.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The rest of the day is spent bickering and competing over who can carry bigger rocks or eat more, and everyone else at the Udon prison camp stares. When nearby prisoners worry whether the pretty mermaid girl can handle the hard labor, Kid scoffs and thinks what a joke, she’d hardly be worthy of being his rival if she can’t handle a little rock smashing.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Kid hates that even while they're fighting, it's like he knows what she's thinking and vice versa, as though they're on the exact same wavelength, to the point they can communicate nonverbally. Kid shouldn't feel like he understands the brat so well, and he shouldn't feel okay with her knowing him so well either when they barely know each other, but for some reason it feels right. They're going for the same endgame prize after all. It makes sense that they get each other.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But of course, even if Kid doesn’t see her as anything more or less than his equal pirate who’s gotten a step up on him at the moment, that doesn’t mean others see her that way too.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Kid’s not exactly the model of a pure moral compass and the thought of him acting as a white knight and Straw Hat being his damsel in distress gives him <em>Hives</em>–but when he hears prison guards making lewd comments about her, and mentioning maybe kneading some drugs into her dango, he does <em>not</em> take kindly to that. Straw Hat is <em>His</em> prey to beat up when they’re both at full strength, outsiders had better keep their fuckin’ meddling out of it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The guards sense his glare and quickly make themselves scarce.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It's not that he's <em>concerned</em> for Straw Hat or anything–G<em>ross!</em>–but maybe, a few nights into their shared cell life, he happens to see her teeth chattering in her sleep, and he looks over and notices that she's curled in a tight ball, and her skin looks a bit blue…And then he sees the prison guards leering at her exposed skin visible through her tattered kimono, and realizes for the first time time that even if <em>Kid</em> doesn't see her that way, everyone else sees her as a scantily clad <em>mermaid</em>…</p>
</div><div>
  <p>...And so maybe Kid sits a little closer than is strictly necessary. So close, in fact, that Straw Hat ends up underneath his fluffy feather cloak, pressed directly into his side, tucked under where his missing arm would have been. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>Fuck, she really IS cold, is it a mer thing??</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Kid usually <em>hates</em> when someone other than Killer is close to his vulnerable side, especially when he’s got fuckin’ seastone cuffs on and can’t make himself a metal replacement arm. He tells himself this is really Weird and Uncomfortable, and that there’s certainly nothing <em>Nice</em> about having a definitely-not-really-actually-kinda-cute mermaid invading his personal space. Straw Hat is all muscle and scrawny limbs with bumps that are freakishly soft that Kid definitely doesn’t want to touch more, and her tail’s not at all slimy like he imagined and–<em>Kid’s keeping his hand to himself</em>. She’s also <em>tiny</em> compared to Kid, and looks misleadingly fragile, and Kid could easily scoop her up with his one hand to put her on his lap and he’d hardly feel a thing–<em>Kid keeps his hand to himself</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>BUT</em>, he’s not going to move either. This is <em>his</em> favorite spot in the stupid cell, he was here first, and if someone should move it’s gotta be Straw Hat, who has no right to look so comfortable smushed against someone as dangerous as Kid. Kid ain’t moving though, that would be losing, and he gives ground to no one. Kid nods at his own fine reasoning.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And then morning comes and the prison guards come banging on their door to get them up to work, and Kid’s awake but doesn’t move until Straw Hat slowly emerges from his plumage like a tiny animal coming out from its burrow, rubbing her eyes and still definitely mostly out of it, her tail slowly unwinding from where it’d wrapped around Kid’s torso sometime during the night. Kid doesn’t miss its warmth. And then she blinks up at Kid, recognition sparking in her big eyes that are really awfully <em>BIG</em> now that Kid sees them at this hyper close range, what the fuck he can see all the flecks of brown and gold in them. But she doesn’t look particularly alarmed, not like she really should be in this situation, and instead just stretches and gently bumps her cheek against Kid’s chest with a quiet <em>Mornin’ </em>before sliding out of Kid’s cloak, like this is completely normal.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Kid refuses to act disoriented while Straw Hat’s calm, because that sorta feels like losing. Losing what, he has no clue.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They’re completely back to their usual during the day, and they both still eat dango until they look like fat hamsters. Kid notices fewer disgusting comments towards Straw Hat that day, and when he sees people looking at her and glares at them, they look away a <em>lot</em> faster than they did before. He doesn’t really care beyond thinking <em>Good</em>, the guards have actually begun to fear Kid like they should have from the beginning, until he overhears the guards who came to wake them that morning gossiping in a corner.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Shit, </em>they say. <em>Turns out Straw Hat’s Eustass Kid’s woman</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And Kid snorts because that’s both <em>hilarious</em> and <em>outrageous</em>, him and Straw Hat being together like that is absolutely <em>absurd and disgusting–</em>but hey, he’s a busy man. He’s not gonna go out of his way to correct the idiots, especially when it means less harassment directed at his oblivious rival. No, he doesn’t feel smug or satisfied, or a hint of a really weird, freaky warm feeling he doesn’t dare linger on. Nope.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And at night they’re back in their cell, going to sleep in their respective Spots, and a few minutes later, Straw Hat’s snoring inside Kid’s cloak once more.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>This time, Kid decides to not just ignore her. He peers under his cloak and pokes her a few times, roughly. She snorts, and she's drooling, <em>gross</em>, but doesn't wake.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Carefully, <em>carefully </em>because he'd rather die than have Straw Hat wake up and ask him what he's doing, he moves her from his side to his front, on top of his crossed legs (he doesn't want to say his <em>lap</em>, but yeah, it's there). Despite being unconscious, she seems to find this move agreeable, and wraps her arms around his torso, burying her face in Kid's chest. All of Kid's hairs stand on end at the really <em>Weird</em> feeling because no, he isn't used to...<em>touching</em> people like this (he resolutely avoids the word <em>hug</em>).</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Either way, as unnerving as the position is, it'll do. Kid's now presented with the back of Straw Hat's head, and carefully moves her Straw Hat to the side so he can see her hair.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It's...<em>gross</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Which, to be fair, almost everything about Straw Hat is kinda gross, she just sorta seems like a gross person overall. Except her hair's gotten a lot longer since he last saw her two years ago, when it was boyish and short. Now, Kid thinks it would hypothetically go past her waist...if it wasn't so <em>nasty</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Straw Hat apparently got beat up by Kaido himself. And then was dragged on the ground all the way to Udon, still covered in blood. She was given a bare minimum wash upon entering (probably a bucket of cold water), and then wrapped haphazardly with bandages, but she's still wearing the rags she came in, so that's not really her fault.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But her <em>hair</em>, it's a disgusting matted <em>mess</em>. Kid carefully lifts a bit and shakes it, and a piece of stone falls out, making his lip curl. It's not only tangled from from the rough treatment, but there's also dried blood and dust and all kinds of other shit in there.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Kid might not care about wearing some blood and grime, a warrior's honor and all that shit, but he <em>sorta</em> cares about his appearance. He's got his lipstick in his cloak that they didn't take from him, and his nail polish is still perfectly un-chipped. And it's been driving him <em>NUTS</em> seeing Straw Hat's <em>shitty</em> hair beside him for the past few days.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Whether he wants it or not, everyone here sees them as a set. As fellow Supernovas, as fellow foreigners, and now, apparently there's the rumors that Straw Hat is <em>Kid's woman</em>. Which is still the stupidest thing Kid's ever heard of, but it also means that if Straw Hat's dragging herself around looking like a trash heap, that's a reflection on <em>Kid</em>, which doesn't sit well with him <em>at all</em>, no matter if it's not real.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>So Kid gets to work.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>This would be easier, he thinks as he begins at the ends and starts working his thick fingers into her hair, if he had his powers. A second hand, obviously, but he also always carries a few metal combs and shit that he could really use right now. But for now, he's just got his one remaining hand so it'll have to do.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It doesn't escape Kid's notice that Straw Hat seems to sink into his touch, but he also really doesn't want to think about that right now because it makes him feel all kinds of Weird Shit, so he ignores it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The thought crosses Kid’s mind that Straw Hat probably leaves her own grooming to someone else on her crew, because she clearly doesn't give a shit about it herself. She's probably also so casual about being snuggly because she's used to being that close with others.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>These thoughts bother Kid <em>a lot</em> more than they have any right to. Maybe she actually <em>does</em> sleep next to someone every damn night. Is it with her crew, like that fellow Supernova swordsman? Is it one of her brothers, that sadistic Revolutionary, or Portgas, who’s definitely <em>somehow</em> still alive and marines are stupid to think he’s not? Is it fuckin’ <em>Trafalgar, </em>the damn pirate who formed an alliance with her <em>before Kid could?!</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>Before Kid knows it, he hears the sounds of the morning shift moving around, and he's finished with Straw Hat's hair. Even in the dim lighting, he can see it shine, and when he runs his fingers through it one last time, it flows over his hand like water. It really does go down her waist, and it looks <em>Good</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(Kid's work looks good. Not Straw Hat. Just so he's clear about that.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She's still fast asleep, and Kid decides to grab a few minutes for himself before they're forced outside again. He's too lazy to stuff Straw Hat back to his side, and he's gotten used to her weight on his chest and legs, so he just pulls his cloak around to cover them both.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He knows that the morning guards will see the glossy black hair tucked under his chin when they come, but honestly, <em>let them fuckin' see</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(When they’re out, Killer notes that Kid’s eyes always seem to be tracking Straw Hat, and says that maybe it’s not <em>just</em> heated rivalry in his gaze. Kid tells his partner to shut the fuck up and mind his own business, and then Killer cackles, his laughter genuine for once, and Kid can’t quite get himself to actually shut him up. No, he doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night missing a certain warmth pressed against him.)</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks so much for reading! I honestly don't know how much of a role Kid will have in the AU, as I kinda feel we still don't know how much of a role he'll have in canon, and the AU parallels canon in many ways.</p>
<p>Anyway, if you enjoyed this, please do consider leaving a comment! If enough people like this KidLu dynamic, there's a chance I might try to work them into On the Courtship later on ^ ^;</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. On Trafalgar Law</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Law's first impressions of Luffy.</p>
<p>(Here's a new story that hasn't been posted on Tumblr before!)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time Law sees her, she's plummeting through the roof of an auction house. He remembers seeing the flash of brilliant crimson scales that glint in the darkened hall like freshly spilled blood, a color much richer than the scales of the mermaid in the tank.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>Law remembers seeing her face twist with rage at the Celestial Dragon's actions, remembers seeing her climb towards the man, her body coiling up the stairs like an anaconda on the hunt.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He remembers seeing her fist crack into the man's skull, the world seeming to shrink down to that one point of contact before he goes flying, silenced.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There's nothing elegant about her, but Law appreciates the poetic justice of a <em>mermaid</em> being the one to punch a Celestial Dragon in retaliation for him attempting to buy a fellow mermaid and shooting a fishman.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There are other big names in the picture, big names that Law should care about. There's Firefist, a raging inferno who sets the entire auction house ablaze. The Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army, who apparently doesn't care about keeping his identity secret. A Whitebeard Pirate Commander, who seems to be using some strange power Law's never seen heard of before. And of course, the legend, Dark King Silvers Rayleigh himself.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But he can't bring himself to care about any of them, his attention fixed solely on the rubber mermaid, who takes her place between him and Eustass like she belongs there when they head to the front to beat up marines. No one on her crew moves to stop or assist her, and to be fair, she doesn't need it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The next time Law sees her, she's on his operating table, and she's on the verge of death.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There's a lot of things that are going wrong in her body (<em>whoever let her take double overdose injections of pure adrenaline hormones?!</em>), but the most immediately concerning is the massive burn wound on her chest. Direct hit by Akainu's magma, making contact even through everyone protecting her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The main damage is square in the center of her chest, with the burns crossing over her breasts and going under across her ribs, a hideous mixture of angry red and charred black flesh warped beyond recognition. Law clinically notes that if she hadn't been rubber and her skin apparently more resilient than that of a regular human's, and if she didn't have such large breasts to cushion the blow, there's a very good chance she wouldn't have even made it to Law's operating table.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It looks wrong, seeing her there, skin ghostly pale and breaths feeble and shallow. It's a complete contrast against the confidence of the mermaid who, without hesitation, punched a God in the face.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There's sounds of a scuffle outside the operating room, and Law sighs. He orders his assistants to begin prepping the mermaid, while he goes to the door and cracks it open.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Firefist is on his hands and knees, clearly having dragged himself from the room he'd been placed in, the blond Revolutionary hanging off of his arm and trying to hold him back.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Please</em>," he chokes, the moment he sees Law. His face's a mess. "Please let me see her! <em>Luffy!</em>"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Even though he's only a few years younger than Law, in that moment all Law sees is a terrified child, crazed fear overriding any sense. Law knows the feeling, and it makes his gut twist. A quick glance at the Revolutionary tells him that he's not doing much better, barely holding it together for the sake of his siblings.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Portgas D. Ace, your sister needs my attention. She's in critical condition. Distract me again and I'll leave her to rot." Law knows he's being cruel, but he really does need to concentrate on the mermaid and every second wasted is a second closer to certain death.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"She's our brother, our baby <em>brother</em>," Firefist sobs, trying to claw past Law, his hands slick with blood. It's likely the mermaid's. The Revolutionary pulls him back.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Law gives up talking to Firefist, he doesn't have the time for this. "You," he addresses the Revolutionary, and his head snaps up. His eyes are <em>crazed</em>, but Law doesn't have the time for that either. "You and him both need to be back in the room I put you in, or you'll make your own injuries worse. Don't make more work for me when I'm done here."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Please save our brother, doctor," the Revolutionary says back stiffly, but he's shaking as he pulls Firefist into his arms. Law spares them a final glance to see Bepo stumbling around the corner to escort them back, before he erases them from his mind. He has a mermaid to save.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The day Law's set to leave Amazon Lily, he's sitting with his back against a tree overlooking the shore when he's surprised by Firefist walking out of the forest, the mermaid gently cradled in his arms.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Law frowns; the man no doubt wanted to keep his brother from scraping her still raw wounds against the ground, but he has a hefty burn in the center of his back as well, and really shouldn't be lifting her. The third brother was also terribly burned across the left side of his torso.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>All three of them will have scars, permanent reminders of the toll of the war and what they almost lost. <em>They match</em>, Law thinks to himself, wondering if it's fitting or cruel of him to think so, or if he should consider them blessed that they all survived at all. The last one, most likely.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>After Law had deemed them fit to leave his strict supervision, the two older human brothers had taken their third and disappeared into the woods. Law doesn't care, and understands them needing time to themselves, which is why it's surprising that Firefist and the mermaid are in front of him now, outside of their mandatory checkups.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Something unsaid passes between Firefist and the mermaid, before she's carefully, <em>carefully</em> like she's made of glass, lowered into the grass in front of Law. Firefist, far more composed now compared to when he'd been in the <em>Tang</em>, nods acknowledgement to Law before fading into the trees, leaving the two of them alone.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Law doesn't say anything, but observes the curious creature before him. She looks better, he thinks. She's nowhere near fully recovered, but her skin has regained some warmth. The bandages across her chest and the rest of her body are all fresh and clean, and she's no longer wearing tattered bloody rags. It would perhaps be too generous of him to say she <em>glows</em>, but her red tail is still bright against the ground. She no longer smells of death.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey," she says, and Law's eyes snap to her face. Her voice is deeper than he expected, almost boyish, and he realizes this is the first time he's heard her speak normally, outside of spitting rage or desperately crying for her brothers. Her eyes, now that he sees them so close and in the light, are much larger than expected, with warm tones.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You saved us, me and Ace and Sabo. I never thanked you. So, thank you."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Her brothers had already thanked him, multiple times. Law says the same thing he told them, though his throat feels weirdly tight for no reason. "Mermaid. I didn't save you or them because I wanted to be thanked. I did it on a whim, because I felt like it. You don't owe me gratitude."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She frowns, the slightest quirk of her lips, that Law finds himself oddly entranced by. "I'm not 'Mermaid.' I'm Monkey D. Luffy."</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>D</em>. Both she and Firefist share Law's secret initial. It's not why he saved them, but it makes him wonder what this connection between them means.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Straw Hat," he offers, acknowledging that she is indeed more than just any <em>mermaid</em>. She seems to accept the title. "Remember the next time we meet, we'll be enemies."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She <em>does</em> seem to find issue with this statement, and the little wrinkle between her brows deepen. "I don't think so," she says with certainty, leaving no room for objection. "You're a good guy, Torao!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Law balks, because he has no idea where the nickname came from. There's a niggling sensation in the back of his mind, the one that made him take the <em>Tang</em> from Saboady to head to the warzone, the one that told him that it's too soon for Straw Hat to die, and that she has a role to play in his future. It's a weird feeling that seems to be in <em>favor</em> of Straw Hat's opinion, but that just won't do at all.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You're going for <em>One Piece</em>. We're rivals," he tells her bluntly, trying to ignore how his voice seems distant to himself.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm going to get it, because I'm going to be Pirate King," she says, and now she's smiling, and it's a good look on her, a much better look than a frown. Law doesn't know where these thoughts are coming from.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He doesn't have time to object this time, because suddenly she's shifting, her tail lifting her up, and Law feels her hands land on his shoulders. His eyes flick from her hands to in front of him, and her face is <em>right there</em>, so close he can feel the puffs of her breath.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>For one terrifying moment he thinks she's going to kiss him (and why does that thought <em>excite</em> him...?), but instead she lightly bumps their foreheads together, and stills.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Law feels painfully aware of the weight and strength of her arms on him, of her soft hair brushing his face with the wind, of the <em>smell</em> of her: of a beautiful ocean, with a horizon so blue it blends with the sky.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He feels her words as they puff across his lips. "I'm going to be Pirate King, but you're going to be my friend. So until next time, Torao."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A short while later, Straw Hat's clinging to the Revolutionary's back as they all wave the Heart Pirates off.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Law doesn't stop thinking about her or her words for the next two years.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed, it'd mean so much if you could drop a kudos or comment &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. On Koala & Fishman Karate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Koala definitely doesn't flirt.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Koala gently nudges Luffy's hand a little higher, and the mermaid makes a tiny whine of frustration as she sways on her tail, trying her best to maintain the posture she's been taught. Luffy glares at her own fist with such adorable determined ferocity that Koala doesn't have the heart to tell her that she doesn't need to try so hard, and that if anything, staying relaxed is the point.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>Koala's been trying to teach Luffy Fishman Karate during the few lulls between their adventures. She knows that the disciplined martial art is probably not Luffy's style, but Fishman Karate focusses fishmen and merfolks' innate sensitivity to water. It's honed for combat in this case, but it can be applied to daily life as well, which is why fishman karate is a regular part of grade school curriculum on Fishman Isand. When one lives surrounded entirely by water, ten thousand meters below sea level, it's remarkably beneficial to be in tune with it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Even if Luffy never fully masters it, Koala's sure she can gain something of value to apply to her regular fighting style, and even if not, it's part of her heritage. It's why Koala had insisted on teaching her, and Sabo had grudgingly agreed (Koala knows the grudging part mostly comes from Sabo still being petty about being terrible at it himself. Which, shouldn't come as a surprise since fishmen arts are difficult for non fishmen and merfolk, but it gives Koala something to rub in his face, which is always wonderful).</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It's nice, Koala thinks as she sings praises in Luffy's ear while fixing her posture once again. It's nice because even though Koala'll do any assignment thrown her way, and will do anything to further her primary goal of achieving justice for fishmen and merfolk...being an assistant Fishman Karate instructor is her <em>actual</em> formal position in the Revolutionary Army. It's so easy to forget, with the number of missions she's been on with her acting support for Sabo and others, and the increasing amount of time she spends away from Baltigo and her students.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But suddenly, she's been given an unexpected opportunity to actually practice and share her passion, and with someone who could really benefit from it too. It would be an utter waste for Luffy to <em>not</em> learn from Koala while they travel together.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(Even if it means Sabo sulks and stews with pathetically transparent jealousy over losing sibling bonding time. He can deal. He'll have plenty of time later.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And well, Luffy's honestly a joy as a student too. Even if explanations mostly go over her head, she's got amazing physical intuition and picks things up fast. And she's so dedicated, staring at Koala with wide eyes like she holds the secrets to the universe when Koala shows her something new, always blurting out her awe exactly as she feels it and--it's endearing.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Luffy, everything about her, is honestly endearing.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The fishman karate tutoring sessions are honestly the only times Koala can have alone with the mermaid (or as alone as one can be, on the deck of a small vessel like Merry), especially without Mr. Nosy Possessive Big Bro butting in between them. So yes, maybe Koala enjoys spending time with Luffy for reasons other than just getting to do karate together, but she'll confess that to Sabo over her own dead body.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Not that Koala thinks it really matters; Sabo's already giving her the Suspicious Stink Eye (though to be fair, he gives that to everyone other than Ace). And yeah, in hindsight she honestly should have expected his suspicion, given how well her partner knows knows her dating history.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>I'm warning you, Koala, </em>Sabo'd grouched when they were alone, dropping his Suave Big Bro act to reveal the Shitty Little Dumpster Brat that Koala knows and grew up with. <em>Don't even think about it with Luffy. Even if she's infinitely cuter than what were their names...Marinara and Cartwheels.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>Their names were Marina and Kara. And I don't date every mermaid I meet!</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Koala's honestly offended, but decides to let it go; Sabo's overwhelmed by his sudden wave of previously repressed Brotherly Love, and he's still not entirely rational (not that rational's a particularly good word to apply to him at any time). And she <em>doesn't</em> have a thing for fishgals and mermaids, she swears. She just happens to spend a disproportionate amount of time working with them, given her specific focus in the Revolutionary Army. It's just a natural result of that.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Or fine, <em>maybe</em> she has a slight thing for them. And, well, maybe Luffy's her type. Just a little bit. On top of being, well, a super cute pupil. But Koala's not going to do anything, other than enjoy spending time together! Is she not allowed even that?</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But, the point is, Sabo's being ridiculous! Koala's been his partner for years! Doesn't he trust Koala enough to know that she'd treasure Luffy, in the very hypothetical situation they ever dated?</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(Koala knows the answer to that, knew it the moment she saw Sabo's expression <em>melt </em>as he cupped Luffy's face, and sighs. She never imagined she'd be love rivals against <em>Sabo</em> of all people, but well, shit happens.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Anyway, Fishman Karate times are <em>Koala</em>'s times with Luffy, and if Sabo comes poking his snooty little nose into their sessions, well, Koala's happy to volunteer him as a punching bag. Which he knows, hence why he's not here.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>In fact, the deck is mostly empty, the other members of their limited crew occupying themselves elsewhere. Their sole observer is the navigator, sitting by the rail and marking up some maps, seemingly not paying attention.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But Koala knows that Nami's very much attuned to their lesson, her head jerking every time a particularly hard <em>smack</em> lands.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Koala doesn't blame her. She's aware of what Arlong did, had had to swallow bile when she accessed the full report when it came through, days before their fateful meeting with Luffy and the ASL pirates. She knows what Nami must think of fishmen, and to know that her impression came from former Sun Pirates leaves Koala feeling a special kind of numb.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Because that isn't what they're like at all, she wants to say. The Sun Pirates, to Koala, are a gleaming example of why fishmen deserve better, and are victims of human prejudice and ignorance. It's terrible that they mean the opposite to Nami. But given her experiences, Koala knows she has no right to preach at her. If anything, she just feels sad, and bitter, knowing that the cycle of hatred can come back to hurt those so very far away from where it started.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Koala guides Luffy's arms into position again, and despite Luffy struggling to remember everything mentally, the young mermaid's body easily accepts the form. It's an art designed for her kind after all, unlike the marine martial arts that Sabo said their grandfather had beaten into them. Koala's sure Luffy struggled with those, unable to fully copy moves that require certain feet positions, and an assumption of a more human perception of the world. But this, Fishman Karate, was made for her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Nami twitches again, and Koala makes a note of it. She knows Nami has likely seen the form before; there were several martial artists in Arlong's group.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She knows it's difficult to watch, but admires Nami's stubborn determination in doing so. Koala's sure that part of Nami's reason for watching is to make sure Koala doesn't teach anything unsavory to Luffy, and she respects that wariness, because they haven't known each other long enough for Nami to open up to Koala and her history of friendship with fishmen.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But, and it's only a guess, Koala also thinks Nami watches to try to learn and accept this part of her captain as well. Koala might not be important, but <em>Luffy</em> is the captain Nami's pledged to follow, for all that Ace is also her captain. And whether she likes it or not, Luffy's a mermaid, which, while not the exact same as a fishman, still has plenty of things in common.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Now that she's no longer isolated on an island in East Blue, heading closer to Fishman Island which they'll inevitably have to cross in order to enter the New World, Luffy's learning more about herself. Specifically, the mer part of herself. And she'd be doing that, regardless of whether Koala's there to help her along.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Koala thinks it wise that Nami's forcing herself to learn alongside Luffy, so that there are no surprises, and that one day, she doesn't wake up and realize that her captain shares far too much with her tormentors for her to handle. Koala hopes that Nami's love and acceptance for Luffy will plant a seed of hope that eventually helps her accept other fishmen and merfolk, to see that they're not all Arlong--but Koala can wait.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>...I totally forgot to update this last week, didn't I...oops! In my defense, i was at the end of a major art marathon to finish my celebration art for OP's 1K chapter and was beyond burned out ^ ^;</p>
<p>As always, thank you so much for reading, and I am so incredibly grateful for any kudos/comments, which remind me that hey, maybe I should remember to keep updating AO3 ^ ^;;;</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. On Smoker</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Smoker's thoughts on Straw Hat Luffy.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time Smoker sees Straw Hat, the mermaid is perched on top of the execution platform.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>Smoker had read the reports, and had seen her bounty poster, and yet some part of him hadn’t quite believed. A <em>mermaid</em>, as a pirate? With a devil fruit? And in a crew with infamous pirates like Portgas and Thatch no less, in East Blue of all places?</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It’s laughable, and the cropping of her photo in her bounty poster makes it seem all the more likely that it’s all just a dumb joke.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And yet there she is, red tail gleaming and unmistakable against dark clouds, so jarringly out of place but very much real. Her announcement that she’ll become <em>Pirate King</em> of all things almost manages to top the ridiculousness of her very existence.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Despite being disoriented, a pirate is a pirate, and Smoker’s duty is to capture her, and she makes for a laughably easy target with no Haki to speak of to counter his smoke. Smoker feels a tinge of regret, briefly wondering what unfortunate history and poor decisions led her to be here, pinned by his seastone jitte, when she could have been in the mermaid lagoon on Fishman Island--when he’s stopped by an even more disorienting figure.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dragon, Supreme Commander of the Revolutionary Army.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Smoker doesn’t have time to dwell on it, because a roar of flame whips past them, and then the mermaid’s gone, now swinging from the back of the fire logia pirate, who has the nerve to give Smoker a cheeky wink before they vanish.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They meet again in Alabasta, and Smoker intends to avoid Fire Fist to take Straw Hat hostage, but the pesky older sibling keeps getting in his way. There’s now a third brother too, one he hadn’t noticed in Loguetown, but whose identity makes sense given the presence of Dragon, and the man has infuriatingly powerful Haki that bats away smoke like nothing. And to make Smoker’s day even worse, he sees the Whitebeard Fourth Division Commander exhibiting some weird power that wasn’t in his reports, and he’s there with the two older brothers blocking Smoker’s path.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Smoker wasn't expecting to face these complications, because honestly, there are few things that can threaten a logia user this far down Paradise. While he's confident in his own abilities, he also doesn’t like the odds of him against two other logias and a strong Haki user just to get at one damn fish. It’s distressingly predictable that they get away.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He isn’t thrilled when not too long after the incident, his enemies end up rescuing him from certain death via drowning.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He’s on the ground, clothing soaked, having been heaved from the water by Roronoa under Straw Hat’s orders--Straw Hat, who’s suddenly too close, peering down at him with droplets of water still clinging to her hair.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She smiles, seeing that he’s awake and alright, and Smoker feels more winded than he’d been by the crushing water entering Crocodile’s prison room. And then she’s gone, a safe distance away, fists readied to fight.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Smoker doesn’t get it, doesn’t get why all these powerful pirates seem to listen to her, doesn’t get why she feels like no other pirate he’s ever seen, doesn’t get why she seems so close and yet so untouchable.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He lets them go. Straw Hat grins at him, and says, “You’re not so bad!” as she leaves, swinging from Roronoa’s back.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The words stick with Smoker.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Over two years later (and after that damn cursed War), Smoker runs into Straw Hat again. It’s awful timing, because that damn Trafalgar’s just switched his and Tashigi’s bodies, and Tashigi’s body just doesn’t move the way Smoker’s used to. Smoker distractedly thinks that he and Straw Hat seem better matched now, at least physically (he distractedly notes that her chest looks a bit bigger though), and he’s insulted when she laughs and says they’ll fight again when he’s back to himself.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They end up having to team up, which Smoker is very disgruntled about indeed (and also, Fire Fist is very VERY not dead like the government had announced, which is its own separate problem), but sometimes the greater evil must be defeated first, and in this case, Caesar and Vergo are unmistakably that evil.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Smoker has known for a while now, that despite their crew’s complete and utter lack of respect for authority, and their penchant for causing mass chaos wherever they go, Straw Hat and her brothers aren’t...the worst. The kernel had been planted in Alabasta, and had slowly festered in the back of Smoker’s mind during the two years of their crew’s disappearance, when he’d had time to question whether Portgas’s execution was truly in the name of justice, and if so, if that justice was what Smoker personally wanted to follow. And now, in Punk Hazard, the pirates seem even grayer, as reluctant but undeniable allies.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The subtle shift in his perception of Straw Hat still doesn’t <em>remotely </em>prepare Smoker for the mermaid shouting, “Hey Smokey, we’re going to the same place, gimme a lift!”</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Smoker doesn’t even have the time to refuse, because suddenly rubbery arms are looping around his neck, without Haki or intent to harm, and Smoker just barely stops his body from turning to smoke a moment before she’s crashing into him. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>And then he suddenly has a mermaid on his back, her soft chest squashed against his coat, her tail whipping through the space where his torso would be if he wasn’t flying. Her arms are loose and trusting around Smoker’s neck, and she peers down at him expectantly, her face close enough for him to feel the soft, foggy puffs of her breath.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She’s perched there like she belongs there, as though Smoker’s her brother or crew, and Smoker <em>HATES</em> how he doesn’t feel angry, disturbed, or even annoyed.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(It’s as though a subconscious part of him wants this, wants to know what it feels like to have her strength and willpower and insanity all compacted into that misleadingly small package and settled against his own body. As though that part of him wants to know what it’s like, to be trusted by the enigma known as Straw Hat Luffy.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(And now that he’s experiencing it, he hates that he can’t feel anything but humbled, and now that she’s there, there’s no way he’ll drop her.)</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I think that at least gives one story each for all the ships in the tags...? *squints*</p>
<p>As always, thank you so much for reading! Forever grateful for any kudos/comments ;A;</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. On Usopp</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Usopp's early thoughts on Luffy.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Usopp tends to think he appreciates ladies quite a bit, if not to the nearly same extent as Thatch or Sanji.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>And although he belatedly observes that yes, Luffy does in fact have quite a...defined, feminine form, it didn't even register the first time he sees her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Because she's <em>a freakin' mermaid.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>A mermaid. The stuff of myths and legend, and while he'd suspected there might be some truth to said myths, mermaids are as good as fantasy all the way out here in East Blue. Sure, he’s lied about meeting mermaids before in his Stories, but he'd never dreamed of actually meeting one...and yet here one is, in the flesh, picking her nose while stealing his food.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>“Holy shit you’re a mermaid!” he finds himself saying, because what else can he possibly say?</p>
</div><div>
  <p>“...And you’re a human!” Luffy responds, utterly unimpressed.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Usopp admittedly ogles at first–although it’s more in awe and fascination at her very existence than with lust–but also, yes, he’s very intimidated by the older brother <em>who’s literally on fire</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Usopp is many things, but he's not stupid enough to think with his dick when faced with imminent life-threatening danger (the same cannot be said of everyone else on his new crew). He’s got enough self preservation to recognize a friendly warning when he sees one, and backs waaaaay off while it’s still “friendly." No sir, Usopp most certainly does <em>not</em> see a "woman," when he looks at Monkey D. Luffy, he will be the last person on this crew to volunteer to be in that line of very literal fire, thank you very much.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And while Usopp does make a conscious decision to avoid potentially provoking the Protective Older Brother (especially when there's suddenly <em>a second one</em>, and somehow he's <em>worse</em>), Usopp’s also not so blinded by boobs or tails that he doesn’t see <em>Luffy</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>That is to say, while he appreciates the female form, he also has enough human dignity that when he sees Luffy swallow an entire platter of food whole, and then belch up the plate and bones in a spray of slobber, he’s able to say with complete honesty, “That’s <em>disgusting.</em>” (The same scene, for some reason, makes Thatch and Sanji swoon. Usopp genuinely can’t tell if this is a hopeless lady’s man thing, or a cook thing, or an idiots thing.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It’s not at all that he finds Luffy as a <em>person</em> disgusting! But it’s like the veil of “mythical beautiful booby lady creature” has lifted, and behind it is just a bro, who is just as nasty and hilarious and friend material as any of the other crew members.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(And if sometimes, the light catches on her in a certain way, and he can’t tear his gaze away from how blinding she looks when she smiles with her whole heart, and he wishes he could keep listening to her laughter forever and knows it has absolutely nothing to do with boobs or tails–well, <em>no one needs to know.</em>)</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Whelp, I did say this was an Everyone Loves Luffy AU ^ ^; (I have no clue if this counts enough for me to add the Usopp/Luffy tag to this work. Thoughts?)</p>
<p>As always, thanks so much for reading, and thank you so much to everyone who's commented!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. On Deuce, 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A snippet from Deuce's perspective, during his and Ace's time in the Spade Pirates.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here's a thing on Deuce, the future first mate of the ASL Pirates!</p><p>Deuce is a canon character, but one who only appears in the Ace-centric spin-off novels, Novel A. While familiarity with the novels is not at all required to understand this AU, I wanted to give some more insight into the kind of character he is, along with info on some of the more AU-relevant events/other characters in the novels, especially for those who haven't read them. I am defs in no way going to retell Novel A (if you wanna read the 2 books, the official English translations are out through V/iz), but may cover some bits that I feel are important to this AU.</p><p>If you want a visual of Deuce, check out Chapter 12 of the first work in this series, On Strangest Tides!</p><p>   <b>WARNINGS for this section:</b></p><p>＊I have not read the English translation of Novel A, only the original Japanese, and as such names/nicknames etc. may be inconsistent.</p><p>＊This section contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Novel A volume 2, specifically about the identity of one of the novel only charas. If you want to read the novel without being spoiled, you may want to hold off on this chapter, but if you don’t care, go ahead!</p><p>＊Just a lotta Deuce being introspective, he’s just that kind of guy.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Three years ago, Deuce met Ace on a deserted island, and they formed the Spade pirates together. Deuce was Ace's first crew mate on his first adventure, and he finds it poetic that he's also his first on his next, a journey all the way back to the starting point.</p><p>Deuce, in many ways, is Ace’s opposite. While Ace was the Spades' fire, their Sun, the charismatic leader who drew them together and whose flames fueled them forward, Deuce was the voice of reason and responsibility. Deuce was their strategist, their navigator, and their doctor all in one, a true First Mate who gave more orders than the captain to keep their crew functioning. If Ace was their beating heart, Deuce was their backbone.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>Ace loved the Spades, and the Spades loved their captain, love him still, even after joining the Whitebeards. But Ace also carries darkness, and secrets that he decided he didn't want to burden his crew with, both for his benefit and theirs.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ace has two major secrets: one, he’s the Pirate King’s son.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And two, his “little brother” is a female mermaid.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The first, only Deuce knows among the former Spades. He found out on accident, back on that deserted island where they first met.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Deuce likes to think that the rest of their crew would have accepted Ace regardless, that their faith wouldn't be so easily shaken by their captain's lineage. But at the same time, he both understands and sees wisdom in Ace choosing to remain silent. Knowledge of even the mere existence of the continuation of the Pirate King's bloodline is something that the World Government would and has killed for. Ace doesn't want to subject his crew to that, and to be honest, Deuce doesn't either.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But one other on their crew knows Ace's second secret, regarding the identity of his younger brother.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>When Banshee, the lone woman on their crew, reveals that she's a mermaid, Ace's reaction wasn't that of a typical pirate. Their other crew members are disappointingly predictable: a mix of awe at her tail, and rude disappointment that their mermaid crew mate is a plump older woman and not a sexy young babe.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But Deuce watches Ace, and sees his eyes widen, glued to the shimmering rich green of the mermaid's tail, and Deuce knows that he's reminded of a specific person.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Deuce is already in the room when Ace asks Banshee to join them to talk in private. Deuce makes to leave, but Ace gestures for him to stay--after all, Deuce already knows what they're going to talk about.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Auntie, sorry for calling you in here all of a sudden," Ace begins, using the nickname the crew had adopted for her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"This is about me being a mermaid, isn't it," she says bluntly. "Is that going to be a problem, or...?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No, no, not at all!" Ace quickly holds out his hands placatingly, eyes wide.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Deuce doesn't blame Banshee for her wariness; he's heard more than enough about the dangers of mermaids out at sea, especially around pirates. Which, is probably what Ace wants to talk about anyway.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It's...well, this is less me wanting to ask you questions, and more me wanting to let you know something," Ace begins, and Banshee frowns. The crew knows the basics of their captain's origins, and has had their ears chatted off about his love for his brother--but he doesn't talk about himself or his past much.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It's about my little brother--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Banshee heaves a huge sigh, all tension leaving her shoulders, and she throws an <em>are you fucking kidding me</em> glance at Deuce, who also sighs but minutely shakes his head to redirect her incredulous gaze back to Ace. Because well yeah, it <em>is</em> about Luffy, but it's actually serious this time.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well, you know my little brother Luffy," Ace begins again. "I don't tell a lot of people this, and actually other than you, only Deuce here knows. But...he, is actually a she, and she's, well, a mermaid too."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Deuce watches the information sink in, because it clearly wasn't what Banshee was expecting.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Is that why you caller her 'younger brother'?" she finally asks.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well that...that's a bit complicated, actually. That's not the reason why she's my younger brother. But I realized it's convenient, so I've just been going with it." Ace shrugs.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I was going to say, if it's intentional, that's awfully clever of you, captain," she smiles teasingly, and Ace sputters while Deuce snorts. Banshee has a point, because Deuce actually <em>had</em> been the one who'd mentioned the convenience of the title 'little brother' in protecting Luffy's identity. But, he keeps quiet for now.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"So, yeah, I just wanted to let you know that well, that's where I stand regarding mermaids." Ace shrugs again, then scritches his cheek, looking away. He's always awkward about Feelings talk, but it needed to be said, and Deuce feels proud of him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Because mermaids are so incredibly vulnerable above sea level, surrounded by humans. While young maidens are the most targeted, <em>coveted</em> by slavers as a free ticket to wealth, power, and connections to even the Celestial Dragons, even an older woman like Banshee might face discrimination and danger. Ace had wanted to make Banshee feel safe and secure on his ship, and revealed his own familial connections to give his words weight.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The woman smiles fondly at Ace, much like she might a son, and ruffles his hair as Ace blinks dumbly. "Thank you, captain," she says. "I knew I had a good feeling about you, before I asked to join this crew. It's not often a mermaid joins a pirate crew, you know?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You surprised me, I didn't know mermaids could have legs," Ace says honestly, eyes brimming with blatant innocent curiosity as they flick shyly to her feet, and Banshee ruffles Ace's hair harder. "It's my first time meeting a mermaid other than Lu."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Mmm, well, she seems to be in good hands, with an older brother who knows how to be discreet about her, even if it's only by following our first mate's plans," she says, and Deuce guffaws while Ace buries his face in his hands, because of <em>course</em> she'd already guessed. "But well, I know now. So you can ask me anything you'd like, and tell me about her, if you want."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>With Banshee's invitation, Ace pounces on the opportunity, and Deuce listens in even as he continues writing in his journal, occasionally taking notes in the margins when their their conversation gets interesting. Banshee tells them how merfolk tails split when they reach thirty, allowing them to live as humans on land. She tries to convince Ace to keep his brother hidden until that age, when mermaids are far safer and less attractive to slavers, but Ace shakes his head. <em>It was hard enough convincing her to stay behind this time. She'll be leaping off that island at seventeen, no matter what I say</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Eventually, someone comes banging on the door to pitifully beg Banshee for food.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Thank you, Auntie," Ace says as they get up to rejoin the crew outside.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You talk to me again whenever you want, captain. And I'm always ears to hear more about your darling Luffy." She says the last part with a knowing little wink, before stepping out, leaving Ace looking a little confused.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Deuce sighs, because Ace can be oblivious at times, and clearly doesn't know how he looks when he talks about Luffy. And Banshee just found out that said Luffy's a girl, a mermaid, and unrelated to Ace by blood.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>To be fair, Deuce's pretty confident that Ace's feelings wouldn't be any different even if Luffy was a guy and human, but he gets where Banshee's coming from. Even if it still seems far too early for Ace to come to any realizations himself.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. On Dadan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Garp drops by, and dumps a merbrat on Dadan and her bandits.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>An extended version of a lil snippet previous posted on Tumblr.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On one fine morning, soon to be a not-so-fine morning, Dadan and the Mount Corvo bandits awaken to yet another dreaded visit from Garp.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>When they reluctantly open the door, they see him standing there, his massive silhouette blocking out all light. In his oversized fist, he's holding something.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dadan, Magra, and Dogra blink at it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It looks like...a fish. Or at least, a sea creature of some sort. Or possibly a human child? Except definitely not human.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Either way, it's very Alive, and flailing its bright red tail about energetically but without effect in Garp's unmoving hand, its skin stretching disturbingly and causing it to bounce in its attempts to escape. When Garp suddenly uncurls his thick fingers, it falls to the ground with an unceremonious <em>whump</em>. It flops around there in the dirt outside of the Dadan Bandits' home, much like...well, a fish would flop on land, except with a lot more wriggling arms.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Dadan! I brought ye something!" Garp booms, gesturing at the curious creature struggling to right itself at his feet.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dadan exchanges extremely dubious looks with both Magra and Dogra, before they all return to staring at Garp's delivery, which has now managed to raise its torso(?) with its rather short arms, and is now blinking at the bandits with enormous, debatably sentient eyes.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dadan awkwardly clears her throat. "Is it...lunch?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>("<em>Is it edible?</em>" Dogra mutters behind her.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No, you fools!" Garp roars. "This is my <em>grandkid</em>! Luffy, look lively!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Yo!" the thing, which apparently really <em>is</em> a human(oid?) child, says, raising a tiny hand in greeting.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The three bandits' shocked screams echo through the forest.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Luffy, it turns out, is a "merbrat."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Y'know, the kind that's eventually supposed to grow up nice 'n graceful and all," Garp elaborates, as though that description is particularly helpful. "I know Luffy looks more like an overcooked shrimp than merfolk right now but...you'll work on that, won't you Lu?!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Said merbrat completely ignores Garp, and is apparently having a confrontation with Ace, who's returned with his latest kill.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dadan has a lot of questions. Perhaps the first is simply, <em>Merfolk actually exist?! </em>but before she has the chance to voice them, Garp announces, "So make sure to train Lu into a fine marine, alongside Ace!" before leaving like a summer storm.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And so Dadan and her bandits are left with a new charge they know absolutely nothing about.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dadan doesn't know what to do with a merbrat, but this turns out to not be as unique a problem as anticipated, because she suddenly remembers that it's not like she knows any more what to do with a human brat either. So, she simply decides to treat them the same way, that is to say, she leaves them to their own devices.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The next morning, Luffy energetically leaps out of the cabin after Ace, short arms scuttling with impressive speed. The kid's red fish tail leaves behind a rather interesting trail in the dirt.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dadan still has a hard time seeing Luffy as fully human, and belatedly realizes she forgot to ask Garp about his grandkid's gender. She searches her memory, but doesn't recall it being brought up. She wonders if merfolk even <em>have</em> gender.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She decides it's the least of her worries at the moment, because there's suddenly a much more pressing concern: <em>Luffy's gone missing</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Eventually, the merbrat comes back, and when Dadan asks Ace about the kid, he snarls, "Get him to leave me alone, I'm not a babysitter."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It's not really a conscious decision, but Dadan and the other bandits follow Ace's cue, and "it" becomes "him."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A few months pass, and suddenly there's a third brat, and the three get along swimmingly (without much swimming, at least on the part of the merbrat, and Dadan really wishes Garp could have mentioned the whole, <em>merbrat can't swim</em> thing in advance...).</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A few more months pass, and the third brat is gone, and Ace and Luffy are heart broken, but glued together even tighter as a result, closer than ever and growing ever closer and more co-dependent.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(Dadan would never say it to his face, but she appreciates how Ace has changed since Luffy's come into their lives. Most of his hard edges have rounded out, and he's being responsible, and the amount of naked caring they can see in him when he's around Luffy is beyond obvious. He's gotten softer even to the bandits, though Dadan doubts he's realized. Dadan hopes that Luffy being there can help keep Ace from making too many horrible decisions in the future.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But then, shortly after Ace turns seventeen, a bomb is dropped:</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Apparently, <em>Luffy is a girl</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And suddenly Dadan sees Ace and Luffy's interactions in a new light, and begins quietly sweating, wondering how to explain it to Garp, especially since she knows that if he opposes them being together, then Dadan will have to fight him. It's not a pretty thought, but the kids have been in her care long enough that Dadan will have some words if the stupid old man thinks to separate them for any reason...</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It turns out that Dadan doesn't have to do anything though, because in a shocking turn of events, Ace decides to set sail, <em>alone</em>. She knows he's mentioned it before, but with Luffy here, Dadan had doubts he'd actually go through with it, at least without taking Luffy.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ace has a quiet departure, one that Dadan couldn't get herself to attend, but she hears that he exchanged some quiet words with Luffy, before the merbrat--mer<em>maid</em>, sent him off with a cheerful smile.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dadan's worried about Luffy, now left alone for the first time since being brought to the mountains. She's very aware of how lonely the child can get, and now that she's left without either of her brothers...</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Luffy's quiet for the first few days, clearly failing to cheer herself up, and Dadan's contemplating Den Den'ing Garp when suddenly, she brightens up.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dadan doesn't know what to think, until she hears her shout, "What are we doin' today, Sabo?" while charging into the woods.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dadan has some concerns about Luffy talking to her deceased brother as a means of burying her loneliness, but it's not like she has any better solutions, and she doubts Garp could do anything but make things worse, so she reluctantly leaves it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dadan doesn't know that her own troubles are only just beginning.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>While Ace was around, the sudden revelation that Luffy's a girl didn't make too enormous a difference in their daily lives. Sure, it made Dadan think about the way her kids' futures together might go (and it turns out she might have been wrong, seeing as Ace left), but Luffy looked every bit a scrawny boy, or as much as one could look like a boy while being half fish.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But then shortly after Ace left...Luffy begins to <em>grow</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Specifically, in certain ways that has all the previously nonexistent feminine parts of her form suddenly shoved, very literally, into everyone's faces.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She's growing so <em>fast</em> it alarms Dadan, because while yes, Dadan herself was once a lovely, buxom young maiden in her prime too, isn't Luffy's developmental speed just...<em>abnormal????</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>(But, Luffy's also a mermaid. And rubber. And the grandchild of that monstrous Garp. So who knows what's normal.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dadan knows they live in the middle of a hostile jungle, and she knows that Luffy's been warned off from wandering into town by Ace (and miraculously, she seems to be following his orders for once). She knows Luffy no longer goes down to Fuusha, and waits for Makino and the Mayor to come visit them at Dadan's. She knows that the chances of random strangers encountering Luffy, especially strangers that Luffy can't beat up, are slim to none.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But Dadan is a woman. She knows what the world is like, especially how ugly it can get for a young, naive thing like Luffy. Luffy, who doesn't have a <em>clue</em> that she's growing in ways that will cause the world to see her differently, and treat her differently, regardless of her own ignorance of such matters.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And to not just be growing into a woman, but a <em>mermaid</em> at that...Dadan shudders.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Even if no one comes to the mountains, Dadan's subordinates are all men. And while she doubts any of them would look at Luffy that way (and they know Dadan would have their heads if they did, and worse, so would <em>Garp</em>), it doesn't change the fact that they're finding it harder to find anywhere to put their eyes when the mermaid's in the cabin, given how obscenely Luffy's bra-less chest stretches Ace's old shirts. With Dadan's sharp eyes always sweeping overhead, making sure no one's taking any sneaky peeks, the bandits mostly all just close their eyes or stare at the ceiling, making Luffy frown.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dadan eventually sends a bandit down for Makino, who takes one look at Luffy's recent developments and understands everything.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Luffy is introduced to bras.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Luffy immediately rejects bras, announcing she doesn't like the stupid tight things. It's not fair, why does <em>she</em> have to wear them, when Ace didn't?!</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dadan sincerely regrets not being stricter about Ace running around with his shirt open, because as with everything, Luffy wants to copy her older brother. Her current vest is luckily closed, but her chest is most definitely <em>not</em> covered.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Makino's patient attempts to explain the unfairness of human society regarding gendered dress codes predictably flies over Luffy's head, and Makino reluctantly surrenders for the day, leaving Dadan with a pile of new vests Luffy says she will wear, and a pile of abandoned bras that will no doubt go untouched.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Luffy's nipples are still very much visible, and her breasts as a whole are one brave button vs. a sneeze away from exploding out into the open.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Desperate times call for desperate measures. Dadan is no talented seamstress like Makino, but she can survive on her own, and that means she knows her way with a needle. That night, after everyone has gone to sleep, Dadan takes the vests and some of the thinner bras Makino had brought, and gets to work.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The next day, Luffy starts wearing the new vests, and doesn't make any comment regarding them, as uninterested in her own clothing as usual. Dadan breathes a sigh of relief that the dumb child hasn't noticed the improvised inserts she'd sewn between the lining. It's not the support Luffy should have, but it's better than nothing, and her men are no longer staring up at the ceiling as though they're constantly obnoxiously praying to some god.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Luffy continues to grow. And grow. And <em>grow</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>People are staring now, in Gray Terminal, the few who make it up the mountains, even Dadan's own bandits within the realm of <em>respectfully looking</em>. And it's not just because of the honestly ridiculous bosom, or the gleaming red beacon of a tail that more and more, actually fits the description of belonging to a <em>mermaid</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Physically, Luffy has grown from a child to a young adult, a young <em>woman</em>, and it shows.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Mentally, she's not quite there yet, most likely because of her limited exposure to other young people her own age, or so Dadan wants to think. But Dadan isn't stupid, or blind. She knows what it's going to be like the moment Luffy gets out of these damn woods.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Ace</em>, Dadan thinks. <em>You'd better get back here before it's too late</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And then one day, three years later, Dadan hears that Ace is back, and he's brought fellow pirates with him. And this time, he's taking Luffy with him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Oh Ace</em>, Dadan thinks grimly, <em>I hope you're prepared</em>.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Dadan, probably: Sucks to be Ace, but this ain't my problem anymore. G'luck LMAO</p><p>Thanks so much for reading! Comments help me produce the brain juice necessary to write more ^ ^;</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. On Darkness, Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Thatch finds an interesting fruit.</p><p>Takes place after Ace, Deuce, and Thatch leave the Whitebeard Pirates, and are on their way back to East Blue to pick up Luffy.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Note: This chapter references a scene from the official Ace novels, Novel A, but you don't really need to have read it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's a few days after they've left the Moby Dick, and they're still in Pops's territory but nearing its borders. They've stopped at an island to let Thatch restock their food supply (<em>Ace, the size of our vessel is limited, if you want to keep eating like this we're gonna have to stop more often!</em>).</p><p></p><div>
  <p>It's not a particularly inhabited island, just a few villages along the shores, but Thatch doesn't want to impose on them in what they'd no doubt take as a sudden Whitebeard Pirates visit. And well, Thatch isn't here on a mission, or really as a representative of Pops, and wow that's going to take some getting used to. But all the more reason not to impose, and rather than letting Ace deplete their food stores, he suggests they just go and collect their own. The island is lush in resources, and Ace looks like he wants to stretch his legs anyway.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ace is off before they've even fully anchored, and Thatch shouts after him to bring back some meat or something, before he too disembarks at a more leisurely pace. Deuce seems content to keep watch on their ship, and is settling down with his journal.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Which leads to Thatch being alone, on what was supposed to be a routine gathering quest.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He doesn't know how he ended up this deep in the forest, in front of the skeletal remains of some sort of massive beast.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The sun will set soon, and he's made it far enough from the shore that he'll have to hurry back. He has more than enough ingredients. But for some reason, his feet had kept moving until they'd reached this place, and now Thatch feels strangely frozen in place.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There's nothing dangerous nearby but...there's something <em>off</em> about the clearing. The skeleton is old, and its skull is half crushed, making it difficult to identify the creature, but he doesn't think it looks like anything that he remembers being part of the current fauna of the island. The arrangement of its bones contort awkwardly, in a way that suggests it isn't just the passage of time that had placed them so, but rather a violent, untimely death.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It's the sort of clearing that he'd expect to be overgrown with plants like the rest of the forest, but it's as though all life has been avoiding the area, leaving just this patch of dusty gray earth.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The ribs of the creature form a hollow arched chamber, and it looks even more menacing than it likely would have appeared in daylight, looming dark against the blood-colored sunset.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Kinda freaky</em>, Thatch thinks, and while he's not exactly superstitious, nor is he particularly spooked by darkness, he still feels uneasy. He has a gut feeling that this isn't a good place to be. He really shouldn't tempt fate by lingering.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But whatever had led his feet here still seems to be looking for something. And Thatch isn't one to disregard his instincts, because he'd be long dead without them.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>So reluctantly, keeping both hands on his swords, he slips between the ribs and enters the shadowed chamber within.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch braces himself, and for a moment, he feels like he's entered a different space, one with more muted sounds and colder, staler air--but then it passes, and he can hear the forest again. He must have imagined it, because he can still see and hear and feel the forest around him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Just as he'd seen from the outside, the area inside the ribs is just as dry and barren as the rest of the clearing--except there, hidden in the shadow of one of the ribs, wedged in a slight dip in the ground...</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There's a fruit.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>~~</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Holy shit...that's a devil fruit."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch raises his eyebrows, and glances down at the peculiar purple fruit he'd just pulled out of his bag, the one he'd picked up back in that clearing. He'd meant to ask Ace and Deuce about it, but Ace beat him to it, and is now staring wide eyed and curious.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Sure looks like one," Deuce agrees, peering at Thatch's hand from the other side, with a hint of wariness. "Bit different from the one we ate, but no two are the same, or so I've heard."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Huh." Thatch blinks. He'd had a hunch, because while he's encountered countless weird fruits in his life, none have felt quite like this one. The <em>off</em> feeling still lingers around it, and Thatch now knows it's coming from the fruit, not the remains of the animal. He'd honestly had second thoughts about taking it, but it also didn't feel right leaving it behind. He supposes he's lucky to be with companions who can confirm his suspicions.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Thatch carefully puts the fruit down on a nearby stone, close enough for the campfire Ace had made to illuminate it. It's hard to see now, now that it's night and the only lighting is from the crackling flames, but Thatch thinks it looked kinda purple when he saw it before. It's slightly more angular than an oval, but still rounded, and made up of chunks of ridged swirly segments, like a really weird pineapple or something.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You gonna eat it?" Ace asks, and Thatch supposes that's the obvious question to ask in this situation.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>When someone finds a devil fruit, it's their right to eat it. That's the rule in the Whitebeard pirates, and even if Thatch isn't home with them now, and Ace and Deuce aren't officially a part of them, Thatch himself is still a Whitebeard.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Except, Thatch hasn't really ever imagined himself with a devil fruit power, not really. Sure, he'd entertained fun fantasies, who doesn't imagine having super powers? But, he's a cook, and he's content with the skills in his hands and years of experience, and the idea of himself with powers in reality is just...<em>weird</em>. Turning into a bird, having his skin turn to diamond, turning into <em>flames</em>--that's for his brothers, not him. He's just Thatch, and he's quite happy that way.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But, there could be benefits. Many devil fruits are useful, and prove to be power ups for their consumers, and being stronger often saves lives when you're a pirate. And well, Thatch may be a cook first, but he also fights and leads his own division when need be. It would be well worth losing his ability to swim, if in a tight spot he could save a brother's life.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Or, someone else could.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You want to eat it?" Thatch takes the fruit--and again it feels <em>off</em> in his palm but he decides to stop letting it unnerve him because maybe all devil fruits just feel this way--and offers it to Deuce. After all, it doesn't need to be <em>Thatch</em> who eats the fruit, and hey he'd be perfectly happy to give it up if his little brother is interested.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Except Deuce immediately makes a face of such pure disgust that it's clearly visible even through his mask. "Those things taste like <em>shit</em>," Deuce says bluntly, cringing away from it as though he can taste it in the air, which is nonsense. It doesn't really smell like anything.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey! It didn't seem to bother you that much before," Ace says, seemingly offended on behalf of his fruit, before pausing and adding, "though yeah, mine did taste pretty shitty."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Before, we were starving, didn't know what it was, and didn't have access to other food and a cook," Deuce grumbles, gesturing around at the feast that Thatch was in the middle of preparing before the devil fruit came out of the bag. "I'm not going to go out of my way to eat <em>that</em>."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I don't think most people eat devil fruits for their flavor," Thatch comments dryly, though a part of him is now intrigued, the cook in him wondering if he <em>could</em> possibly make it appetizing. The challenge is appealing. "I'm asking whether you want its powers. It's yours, if you do."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Deuce makes the same face. "No, thanks. If I do, who's going to drag <em>this idiot</em> out of the damn ocean?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Fair enough," Thatch concedes as Ace gasps, outraged. He lets the boys wrestle it out while he contemplates the fruit, which he replaces on the stone. He's already wondering how, hypothetically, he might prepare it to be more appealing to human tastebuds, without actually tasting it first. Since apparently the first bite seals the powers, and all that stuff.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Y'know," Deuce says, after he crawls out of the headlock Ace had put him in, "If you don't want it, you could always sell it. They always go for a crazy price on the black market, according to Skull."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>That's a fair point. He could sell it, or maybe have it sent back to the Moby for one of his brothers. Devil fruits are without a doubt valuable, and there are options if none of their trio wants it for themselves.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey, but I thought you <em>wanted</em> a devil fruit power, we talked about this!" Ace looks less disheveled than Deuce, but his hair's still sticking up weirdly, not that he seems to mind. Thatch flaps a hand at him, and Ace dutifully starts roasting the meat Thatch has already prepared, before continuing. "You said you wanted my <em>Mera Mera </em>fruit, because fire's a cook's best friend or something." The flames around the meat flare as though proving a point.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well, I certainly wouldn't mind <em>your</em> fruit," Thatch says. "But since you've already eaten it, this one's definitely different."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Yeah but there are other cool ones."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I missed this convo," Deuce says, even as he moves to Thatch's side and dutifully starts arranging things as directed.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Me 'n Thatch 'n Teach, we were talking about what devil fruits they'd want to eat," Ace says from around a mouthful of meat, and <em>hey</em>--Thatch shoots him a look over his shoulder, and Ace guiltily cronches the bone of his stolen sample but slinks his hand back from where it'd been reaching to nab another. "Thatch said he wanted my fruit, and Teach said he wanted...what did he want again?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The one that can make you transparent," Thatch says, and eyes the fruit, wondering if it could turn him into a transparent man. Well, that's not a terrible power to have, Thatch is sure he could have some uses for it (<em>no</em>, his mind doesn't immediately jump to the lovely mermaid they're apparently on their way to meet), but also hey, since he knows Teach wants it, he wouldn't be against sending it back to the Moby in that case either.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Deuce makes another face, clearly seeing why a man would most likely want that power.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"And then the...what was it, chop chop? Fruit, or something, that came up too, the one that turns you into knives."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I said I don't want that one, I like sharpening knives!" Thatch makes his point by making a nice, clean chop with the knife in his hand. "I don't want to become a knife-person, and anyway that's been eaten by some bounty hunter too."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Deuce <em>hmms</em> and there's a few beats of silence as they pause to look at the fruit contemplatively. Whether or not Thatch would hypothetically want to eat the fruit would, of course, depend on what powers it grants after all...Thatch regrets not taking more time reading the devil fruit encyclopedia in the Moby library, the one Teach likes borrowing. Teach himself would probably know what fruit this is at first glance, Thatch sighs. The man's always been weirdly into research, specifically about devil fruits.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well <em>are</em> there any powers you'd want?" Deuce finally asks. "Because if there aren't, you might as well not eat the thing. Swimming is <em>actually</em> a pretty useful power, as a pirate." He shoots a dirty look at Ace, which Ace ignores.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Maybe it'd make you be like Marco, turn into a bird," Ace says eagerly, the flames in their campfire flaring with his excitement. "That would be <em>so cool</em>."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>That <em>would</em> be cool, Thatch admits, his hands pausing before continuing their chopping. He actually hadn't thought about Zoan type fruits, but a good percentage of devil fruits fall under that category, so there's plenty of chance this one would too. He doesn't entertain the thought that it'd be mythological like Marco's, he doubts he'd be <em>that</em> lucky, he knows how rare those are--but maybe like, an eagle or something. Something with a wicked beak and claws, and he'd be able to do air scouting so Marco would have to stop complaining about having to do that alone, and maybe Thatch's bird form would end up looking bigger and more badass--</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The bird might be a chicken," Deuce says, shattering Thatch's vision, and he cringes as the regal bird of prey in his mind is replaced by an image of a squat hen. Which, makes no sense because he couldn't be a <em>hen</em> but--"Would it be cannibalism? If you cooked and ate chicken, as a chicken devil fruit user?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Deuce, please shut up," Thatch begs. So maybe being a bird is <em>not</em> that cool of an idea.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You wanted something useful while cooking right? Don't some people in the Big Mom pirates have food powers?" Ace offers, and Thatch is grateful. "Like, the what were they? Her Commanders? Wasn't there like a mochi guy?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"And a crackers guy. And a snacks guy. And a smoothie lady," Thatch confirms, because yes, being familiar with the top officers in a rival Emperor's crew kinda comes with being a Commander. "But I don't want to <em>become</em> food."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Because then it'd be cannibalism," Deuce mutters.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Y'know," Ace says, looking weirdly contemplative. "They say that devil fruits match their users, or I guess users match their devil fruit..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ace and Deuce share a <em>look</em>, and Thatch has a bad feeling.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It's gotta be the bread-bread fruit," the two brats say in unison, and Thatch throws up his arms.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"How the hell's that fair? You get to be a fire logia, and I'm <em>bread</em>?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ace grins impishly, until Deuce notes that the meat's turning black, and then he swears.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks so much for reading!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks so much for reading and for giving this a shot! Any feedback, comments, kudos, encouragement, anything at all is greatly appreciated!!! (I have a lot of backlog for this, and posting schedule is determined by feedback ;D)</p><p>This AU has been posted in advance on my social medias, and I'm just slowly compiling it here. If you would like to see the all currently posted works, please check out my <a href="https://yukipri.tumblr.com/"><b>TUMBLR</b></a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/YukiPri_Art"><b>TWITTER</b></a> (twitter contains just art)!</p><p>Also, while I adore and am incredibly grateful for any comments anywhere, if you're interested in asking me longer questions regarding this AU or prompts for Ship's Log/Side Notes, I'm still accepting them on Tumblr! But, I'd really appreciate if you could first check out my already posted asks and guidelines, which you can view <a href="https://yukipri.tumblr.com/post/625291826616827904/one-piece-mermaid-au-text-headcanons-compilation"><b>HERE</b></a>!</p><p>Thanks so much!<br/>Love,<br/>~YukiPri (Kazu)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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